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"The ones who fell on top of me saved my life"
A man who miraculously survived a Serbian massacre tells his terrible story.
By Peter Landesman
[07/09/99]

Heroes of horror
Risking snipers, facing sights so dreadful that they weep along with the victims' families, forensics teams from around the world -- including a team from the FBI -- are performing the heartbreaking but essential task of recording Serbian atrocities in Kosovo.
By Peter Landesman
[07/09/99]

The not-so-good war
Just like President Clinton, eight of 10 Vietnam-era GOP presidential candidates managed to avoid going to Vietnam -- and the wealthiest wound up in the National Guard. Does it still matter?
By Jake Tapper
[07/08/99]

On her own
Hillary takes one giant step and one baby step out of her husband's political shadow.
By Anthony York
[07/08/99]

"My fiancé wants me to be a racist!"
Before Benjamin Nathaniel Smith's killing spree got him on CNN, Rev. Matt Hale was consigned to the Jerry Springer show, where he sparred with black and Jewish viewers and defended hate as a religion.
By Anthony York
[07/07/99]

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Already the press and public are watching to see how Clinton masters the arcane details of New York politics. But how she deals with the controversial Sharpton could become an early defining moment in the campaign, far more important than whether she can find Elmira on a map, identify the mayor of Poughkeepsie or figure out a politically correct vacation spot.

There is little doubt Sharpton will have some role in the campaign. Howard Wolfson, the exploratory committee spokesman, told Salon News, "If [Clinton] runs she will not be in the business of excluding people. We welcome the support of all New Yorkers." Asked if Sharpton had been given an actual role in the campaign, Wolfson said simply, "We will cross that bridge when we come to it."

In reality, Clinton's kowtowing began last month, when she invited the reverend to a White House reception for the World Series champion New York Yankees. "I don't think Al has ever been to a Yankee game in his life, but he was invited," confides Wall Street businessman Frank Mercado Valdes, a longtime friend and advisor to the reverend.

But behind the scenes, controversy swirled around Sharpton's presence at the event, foreshadowing a delicate balancing act Clinton must perform to rally and unify key New York Democratic constituencies -- African-Americans and Jews.

William Rapfogel, a lifelong Yankees fan and director of the New York Metropolitan Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty, was also invited to the White House event. Rapfogel has been to the White House at least 10 times during the Clinton administration, he says, but this visit was going to be special because he wanted to get Yankees autographs for his son. Then he got a "heads up" call from a Washington friend that changed everything.

The friend told him to be careful about his White House visit, because efforts were being made to create the impression that Sharpton and the Jewish community were united. So Rapfogel elected not to attend. "I did not want to be used," he said, though he stressed that he was not a spokesman for the Jewish community and said that he might yet vote for Clinton. But he admitted that he wondered why Sharpton was given a front-row seat at the event, while Rep. Charles Rangel, the Harlem congressman who had first broached the idea of a Hillary for Senate campaign, got stuck in the third row. "Is Sharpton more important than Rangel?" Rapfogel asked.

While making overtures to Sharpton, Clinton has also reached out for Jewish support in this early stage of the campaign. This week, she affirmed her support for a united Jerusalem, a move aimed at quelling earlier protests from segments of the Jewish community who bristled at her support for a Palestinian state.

Next page | The reverend as rabble-rouser