Q. This may fall into the category of "with friends like that," but two of your former aides -- advisers -- have written you off already at the start of your second term. George Stephanopoulos says you're a lame duck. Dick Morris says you've gone to sleep. What is your rebuttal, and what's the dog's name?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Maybe that should be my rebuttal. You know, President Truman said, if you want a friend in Washington, you need to get a dog.
      I'm not sure that Mr. Stephanopoulos has been properly quoted there. But if you look at what happened in 1995, I think it is very difficult to make that case. If you compare year by year, in each year of this administration, we have had significant accomplishments. ...
      In 1997 we had the balanced budget. We had the biggest increase in aid to children's health since 1965, the biggest increase in aid to higher education to help Americans go to college since the GI bill passed. We voted to expand NATO. We passed a chemical weapons convention. We had an historic agreement in Kyoto. And along the way, we passed sweeping reform of America's adoption laws. We passed sweeping reforms of the federal Food and Drug Administration to put more medical devices and life-saving drugs out there in a hurry, and a score of other things -- plus, the beginning of the first serious conversations Americans have ever had about their racial differences not in a crisis.
      I think it was a banner year for America. We had the lowest unemployment and crime rates in 24 years. Now we know we've got the lowest combined rates of unemployment and inflation in 30 years. We had a good year because we're all working hard.
      All I can tell you is, in 1998, it will be a more vigorous year. Perhaps you'll have questions about that, but we intend to have a very, very active time. So I can't comment on what others say. I just say that all you have to do is look at the evidence, look at the record, look at our plans for the future and I think that it's almost worthy of dismissal.
       Now, back to the dog.
      Let me begin by thanking all the children and others, including members of the press corps at the Christmas parties last night, for their voluminous suggestions for the dog's name.
      We got great groups of suggestions -- people who suggested categories related to the coloring of the dog, people who suggested names related to my interest in music and naming all kinds of jazz musicians that I would love to have named our dog after. Then there was a whole set of Arkansas-related suggestions -- Barkensas, Arkenpaws. And then there were suggestions that related to all of our family names, somehow putting them together or saying since the Secret Service knows me as POTUS and Hillary as FLOTUS that we could call the dog DOTUS.
      And then there were the parallels to our cat, Socks, saying we should call it Boots or Shoes or, you know, something else like that. In the end, our family got together. We came down to about seven names, many of them personally inspired, and then to three.
      I finally decided to name the dog after my beloved uncle who died earlier this year. I'm going to call the dog Buddy because of the importance of my uncle to my life, but also because my uncle raised and trained dogs for over 50 years. And when I was a child growing up, we talked about it a lot. And because the dog was trained for a couple of months with another name, it is also the name he responded to best of all the ones that we sort of tried out on him. And I think while it's important that I train the dog, it's then a good two-way street.
      But mostly, it's a personal thing. And it's ironic that Hillary had thought about it. I had thought about it. And then one of my uncle's daughters called me last night, and I didn't take the call last night because it was too late when I got done. So when I called her this morning, she said, you know our family thinks you ought to consider naming it after Dad, and I said, that's what we've decided to do. So I made a few of my family members happy. But I want to thank everybody who participated in the exercise. 

[_] $12.00 BUDDY T-SHIRTS -- 3 colors -- with the logo
           IN BUDDY WE TRUST, AMERICA'S FIRST DOG, IF YOU WANT A FRIEND IN WASHINGTON, GET A DOG -- Harry Truman
           (© 1997 Presidential Socks Partnership, Inc.)
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      SOCKS THE CAT FAN CLUB ended its two-week-long international "NAME THAT DOG" contest when President Clinton announced he had selected "Buddy" as the name for the new White House Chocolate Labrador puppy.
      CLICK HERE to see all the names suggested.
      "Usually," said SOCKS FAN CLUB president Jay Jacob Wind said, "cats and dogs get along like ... well, like cats and dogs. So we would prefer that if the Clintons got a chocolate labrador, it would be made of milk chocolate. Even SOCKS might like that. But politics is the art of compromise," he added, "and we all have to get along. So in the spirit of co-operation, SOCKS THE CAT FAN CLUB invited its members and friends all over the world to suggest names for the new White House dog."
      Nominations came in from 15 states, plus Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, United Kingdom, and even China. (Yes, SOCKS FAN CLUB accepted those contributions).
      The Fan Club offered a free t-shirt to the first person to guess the correct name, but nobody guessed "Buddy." Kathleen High of Greenfield WI came closest with "Bubba," but that's a bit different. Since there was no winner, SOCKS THE CAT FAN CLUB will make a $100 donation to the Humane Society of the United States in honor of ALL the particiapants
      Read more about SOCKS THE CAT FAN CLUB at http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6157, their award-winning website. SOCKS THE CAT FAN CLUB has 5,000 members from all over the U.S. and 10 foreign countries. Its quarterly newsletter features news and views of White House life from a cat's-eye view, along with games for children, poetry and adventures on the feline front. 

      With a new dog named "Buddy," President Clinton made himself a true-blue pal.
      "If you want a friend in Washington, you need to get a dog," Clinton said, quoting President Truman in today's much-awaited announcement that the puppy was named after a favorite great-uncle.
      Three days after being given the chocolate Labrador puppy, Clinton disclosed its name at an afternoon news conference. Buddy was the nickname of Clinton's great-uncle Henry Oren Grisham, a father figure who died in June.
      "It's a personal thing," Clinton explained today. Besides, he added, "It was the name ... (the dog) responded best to of all the names we tried out on him."
      Clinton reveled in the guessing game that preceded his announcement. Briefly introducing the dog to reporters earlier in the day, he was careful not to let the name slip. "C'mon, kiddo," Clinton said to the dog, who chomped on the Rose Garden grass. "Don't eat that; you just had lunch."
      On Monday, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton called the naming "an ongoing high-level effort." The president, who had put out a national call for suggestions, said he and his wife and daughter "had so much fun" sorting through possibilities that included references to his home state of Arkansas -- "Barkansas" and "Ark-n-paws" among them.
      Aides described the housebroken, three-month-old dog as already an Oval Office regular, with Clinton himself walking the puppy back and forth between the mansion and its West Wing.
      One aide expressed amusement that daily Secret Service "movement logs," which normally record quiet mornings for the president, have this week shown a flurry of trips to the back lawn.
      Socks, the Clinton family cat, was reserving judgment on the canine interloper. "We're working on that," said Mrs. Clinton. "But we have every reason to believe that there will be a peaceful reconciliation during the holiday season here at the White House between Socks and the puppy." 

      After all that, it's ... Buddy?
      Bill Clinton thanked all the school kids and regular folks who piped up, but in the end our sentimental president named his new chocolate Labrador for his late great-uncle Buddy, Henry Oren Grisham, "because of the importance of my uncle in my life, but also because my uncle raised and trained dogs for over 50 years." Grisham, who died in June, was a father figure to Clinton.
      The pup also had input into the decision. Clinton noted that the dog, who had answered to the name Teddy since his Aug. 7 birthday, responded best to Buddy when the Clintons tried names out on him.
      First Dog Buddy probably won't romp on the Mall much, and it's a good thing, because if you holler "Buddy" in Washington, hundreds of dogs might come running.
      At least 900 other registered dogs share the name in this region, according to computerized records obtained this year from nine local jurisdictions. It's the 12th most popular name. (The top 11, in order, are Max, Bear, Lady, Brandy, Maggie, Ginger, Molly, Shadow, Jake, Sandy and Pepper.)
      The region's dog Buddies include at least 133 Labrador retrievers, and the highest concentration is in Dale City in Prince William County, where there are 46.
      The dog-naming frenzy peaked right before noon yesterday, when Tim Russert broke into regular programming on MSNBC with his big pooper scoop that Clinton had named the dog Luke, which just conveniently coincided with the name of Russert's son.
      Moments later, Wolf Blitzer on CNN accurately declared the dog was Buddy, prompting near-ecstasy at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. By midafternoon, the network publicist was offering Blitzer, who established his reputation as a Mideast diplomatic correspondent, for canine commentary.
      The White House press corps now returns you to its regularly scheduled droning. In the end, the First Dog's a family pet, not a national talisman. But get braced for the limited-edition Buddy Beanie Baby, which can't be far behind. 

      Long before more than 3,000 Reliable Source readers submitted their suggestions for the Clintons' new dog, the chocolate Labrador puppy already had a name: Teddy.
      "You can't have a dog around for four months and call it `Hey you,' " said Linda Renfro, the Easton MD breeder who sent her baby off to the White House this weekend. "He looked like a teddy bear to me."
      President Clinton said he will announce today what moniker the family has chosen. Their new pup, who spent much of yesterday snoozing in the sun and warming the feet of the president, is smart enough to "transition" to a new name, "the sooner the better," said Greg Strong, who trained the Lab for two weeks at puppy boarding school in Easton MD. Apparently, First Dog is precocious. Usually, Strong trains pups at six months to take advantage of their greater mental maturity, but First Dog "did extremely well at 4 months. This is the equivalent of a seventh- or eighth-grader graduating from high school."
      The Dog Formerly Known as Teddy would have a candy-coated name, if Source readers had their way. Based on their responses, Americans are highly literal in naming their dogs. If we had a Hershey's Kiss for every entry evoking the Pennsylvania sweets manufacturer, we would weigh 300 pounds. Also big in the chocolate series were Coco, Choco, Nestle, Brownie, Cadbury, Truffle, Mousse, Droste and Bosco, with several Brown Noses thrown in for the obvious reason. Noting the president's perceived proclivity for obfuscatory explanations, a handful of wags suggested Fudge. Jennifer Hart of Arlington came up with Rocky Road as a nod to Little Rock, the Clintons' journey to the White House, the underdog movie boxer and a favorite flavor of the month. Burnie Burnworth of Potomac showed off her culinary sophistication with Roux, from beurre roux, the French appellation for browned butter. Theresa McDaniel offered Willy Wonka. Then there were hundreds who wanted the First Dog, and his name, to work well with the First Cat, Socks.
      "The puppy was very happy to meet Socks, and Socks would just as soon wait a while," Hillary Rodham Clinton said during a White House event yesterday. "So we're working on that, but we have every reason to believe that there will be a peaceful reconciliation during the holiday season here at the White House."
      The matching-Socks category includes Shoes, Slippers, Mittens, Argyle, Gold Toe and Bobby, the last one commemorating a unique boomer fashion statement.
      Other readers preferred relating the First Dog to other presidential dogs. Rebecca Boone of Rockville picked Checkers, Richard Nixon's cocker who starred in his own vice presidential speech, explaining, "Maybe that will help him get out of all the campaign fund-raising trouble that he seems to be into these days." Vinny and Sal at Treviso restaurant downtown came up with one of our favorites, Vanilli, to pair with the Bushes' dear departed dog, Millie. Deborah Goodman of Rockville punned in with Clin Tin Tin.
      Also highly popular were inside-the-Beltway names, including the name Beltway itself, hardly suitable for a poor pup who didn't ask to be to-the-White-House born. Shredder was a big favorite, although trainer Strong reports that the dog is properly housebroken. "How about Ronald Reagan, after the airport?" quipped Guy Walden. Veto got a lot of votes. Many of the Clinton faithful wanted Bridge for that tired old pathway to the you-know-what; many of the Clinton critics had various nasty permutations of Paula (Paw-la, get it?).
      "If the president's Lab is named Lincoln, then every room in which he sleeps will become the Lincoln Bedroom. The prez will then have many new opportunities to raise campaign contributions from overnight visitors -- and not a minute too soon," said Robert Alvord. Many readers suggested that the new pup be neutered and named Newt. More than a few came up with Nafta.
      "We have met the president several times at Belle Haven Country Club and feel that he should name his puppy after his golf game -- Mulligan," suggested Kristi Hellmuth.
      In the end, you can never go wrong with an American classic. Bill Mason of Annandale abbreviated First Dog and came up with FiDo. 

      THE PRESIDENTIAL PUP MOVES IN (December 15, 1997) -- All of a sudden, the empty nest at the White House is fuller than ever. First Daughter Chelsea Clinton came home for the holidays on Saturday, and yesterday First Dog No Name moved in to stay. The 3-month-old chocolate Labrador arrived in the afternoon, docilely accepted the leash, and took a brief stroll with President Clinton in front of the South Portico. The pooch then disappeared inside, where his training presumably was tested by all those Christmas trees. Consider the Lab the first of many gifts to appear on Clinton's financial disclosure form. The dog's new dad may go off to work in his big helicopter some days, but the Clintons are celebrating Christmas here, then New Year's with the usual suspects at Renaissance Weekend in Hilton Head SC. The dog better have an appellation by then, because all Renaissance participants have to wear name tags.

      FIRST DOG: A BACKGROUND CHECK (December 12, 1997) -- Our dogged reporting has revealed the following kibble about the chocolate Labrador puppy that will become the 49th First Dog of the United States. He's a purebred pooch with all the right papers, according to dog donor Tony Harrington, a Washington lawyer and FOB who says he determined "the president needs a dog."
      Having had "the privilege of seeing the president and the puppy together," he reports that "they are going to make each other very happy." The as-yet-unnamed First Dog is one of several in a litter born somewhere in the region, Harrington says, but he refused to divulge any other info. As a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, "one of my jobs is keeping secrets," he says, "and the president is the only one who can declassify information about the First Dog." The first lady, for instance, hasn't even met the dog, her spokeswoman says.
      Registered Lab pups run between $400 and $800, according to the American Kennel Club, and the president is permitted to accept a gift of such value as long as he reports it on his income tax, according to White House spokesman Barry Toiv. Meanwhile, readers' suggestions for the dog's name are pouring in to The Reliable Source at a rate of several hundred a day: Early favorites evoke candy and cocoa and indulge in political wisecracking, as in Michelle Grodsky's offering of "G. Gordon Labby -- always underfoot." (Send your suggestions via e-mail to: source@washpost.com.)
      There's still no word on whether Socks would like to run away to Stanford and mistress Chelsea. "I think someone has told Socks," says Toiv, "but we're not sure he understood."

      THE CLINTONS TO EMBARK ON A NEW PET PROJECT (December 6, 1997) -- With their only child out of the house, President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton have decided to adopt. They're getting a dog. He's a Chocolate Labrador puppy, about 3 months old. Clinton friend Tony Harrington, who owns the dog, took it to the White House yesterday afternoon, and the president and the pup spent a while playing on the grounds. And that clinched it, said spokesman Joe Lockhart.
      It's been five years since America had a first dog (God rest Millie's soul), and the president has been mulling this for a while, Lockhart said. The decision on this particular pup appeared impetuous, but Lockhart said the allergy-prone president did discuss it with his wife. SOCKS, however, had no input and has not met the playful newcomer. It's not clear when the dog will get his White House pass (or a name) and move in.
      Harrington is "going to take him and do some training first," Lockhart said. Like fetching golf balls? "I was thinking more basic," he said, "like not on the Oval Office rug." 

      Peacock, who is fostering a cat named Gulliver from the Northern Virginia SPCA, is also fostering a website for the Northern Virginia SPCA until a good cyberhome can be found. Please visit -- the URL is http://www.wizard.net/~peacock/nvspca.htm

      Editor's Note: Last summer, SOCKS THE CAT FAN CLUB introduced the SOCKS Virtual Reality Pet. Reviews were mixed; some members loved theirs; other members were bored after a few lives. Among virtual pets, that's life. Our first virtual pet owner, the editor's son Paul Wind, age 12, tested his SOCKS virtual pet and wrote the following scientific analysis.

      The SOCKS Virtual Reality Pet, I think, is very superior to the regular Tamagotchi. It has one more button than the Tamagotchi, plus, if you don't like the picture of SOCKS THE CAT, you can choose from any one of seven friends of SOCKS on the very same electronic toy. You can choose between a cat, a crab, a butterfly, a fish, a dinosaur, a dog, a rooster, and a dove!

      SOCKS THE CAT FAN CLUB and David's Cat Page have created a Website to list EVERY cat-related Website in America. Fur sure, we need your help to build the list. If you have a cat-related Website, please add it. There are five CAT-egories: National Organizations; Local Organizations; Department of Health and Feline Services; Department of Education; and Cat-izens' Pages. Please visit LAND'O'LINKS at http://www.pacinfo.com/~lnelson/cat-links/cat-links.html For information, send e-mail to David Nelson (lnelson@pacinfo.com)

      Cat Collectors International, an international society of more than 1,000 cat lovers who collect cat memorabilia, hosts its fifth annual convention Friday-Sunday, June 19-21, 1998, at Hyatt Dulles Hotel, 2300 Dulles Corner Boulevard, Herndon VA, outside Washington DC.
      Cat Collectors founder and president Marilyn Dipboye said, "We look forward to our best and largest conference ever, welcoming members from the Washington DC area and afar. This is the first time we have met outside the Detroit area."
      The public is welcome to the Vendors' Room on Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., for cat collectible shopping. Conference speakers will include SOCKS FAN CLUB President Jay Jacob Wind, as well as artists, craftspeople, and appraisers. The conference features a gift exchange, cat doll exhibits, slides of members' collections, cat jewelry, and cat costumes. Friday before the conference, members visit the exhibit "Cats Wild To Mild" at National Geographic Society's Explorers Hall, which opens June 6 and runs through September 1988.
      For a registration packet for the conference, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Marilyn Dipboye, Cat Collectors International, 33161 Wendy Drive, Sterling Heights MI 48310. Registration packets will be mailed in early 1998. 

With every order of $12.00 or more, you get the membership package:
* [_]SOCKS FAN CLUB or [_]IN BUDDY WE TRUST full-color campaign pin ... AND ...
* SOCKS FAN CLUB / BUDDY'S BUDDIES membership card ... AND ...
* SOCKS FAN CLUB NEWSLETTER Issues 17 and 18 ... AND ...
* SOCKS's and BUDDY's History of Presidents' Pets ... AND ...
* SOCKS's Favorite Quotations From Chairman Meow

Please select among the following gifts:
[_] $12.00 T-shirt: [_]SOCKS (design on right) or [_]IN BUDDY WE TRUST
                  [_]S    [_]M     [_]L     [_]XL     [_]XX (Add $1.00)     [_]XXX (Add $2.00)     Child [_]M     [_]L
[_] $20.00 Sweatshirt: [_]SOCKS or [_]IN BUDDY WE TRUST
                  [_]S    [_]M     [_]L     [_]XL     [_]XX (Add $1.00)     [_]XXX (Add $2.00)
[_] $20.00 SOCKS Virtual Reality Pet - better than a Tamagotchi!
[_] $20.00 SOCKS Look-Alike Cuddly Toy Cat
[_] $15.00 [_] Chef's Apron    or   [_] Tote-bag (holds 35 pounds)   or  [_] 3-Button Golf Shirt
[_] $  8.00 [_]SOCKS or [_]BUDDY T-shirt -- without the membership package
                  [_]S    [_]M     [_]L     [_]XL     [_]XX (Add $1.00)     [_]XXX (Add $2.00)     Child [_]M     [_]L
[_] $  6.95 Cartoon book - Socks Goes to Washington, The Diary of America's First Cat
                  Biting, scratching satire by Michael O'Donoghue & J.C.Suarez
[_] $  4.00 [_]SOCKS or [_]BUDDY Color Portrait Postcard - 5.5"x8.5" (2 for $7.00)
[_] $  2.00 Membership Renewal: Issues 17 & 18 of SOCKS FAN CLUB NEWSLETTER
[_] $12.00 [_]SOCKS Xmas Cards or [_]Valentines - pack of 12, 6 witty designs, hand-colored
[_] Back issues of SOCKS THE CAT FAN CLUB NEWSLETTER -- $   1.00 each or $12.00 for all 16
    __ #1 (2 pages) SOCKS's Inauguration Jan. 20, 1993 / Kids clean up the environment
    __ #2 (4 pages) Interview with SOCKS' vet Joan Nafe / White House maze
    __ #3 (8 pages) Cat's Credo, a poem by Garrison Keillor / 1993 Inauguration photos
    __ #4 (8 pages) Vic Gold interviews SOCKS / White House board game
    __ #5 (8 pages) The Wild Cats of Hawaii / Murphy Brown kidnaps SOCKS on TV
     __ #6 (8 pages) Interview with SOCKS's press secretary Neel Lattimore - scratch those rumors!
    __ #7 (8 pages) New White House Visitor Center (the first article anywhere!)
    __ #8 (8 pages) African Safari / SOCKS in Mad Magazine
    __ #9 (8 pages) On-Line Tour / MaryKate & Ashley Olson sing Some Day I Want to Be President
    __#10 (8 pages) White House Sculpture Garden (first time ever published!) / PRIMANJI Board Game
    __#11 (8 pages) SOCKS interviews Leader Dole / The Great SOCKS vs. Leader Debate
    __#12 (8 pages) White House Holiday Cards / Holidays Around the World
    __#13 (4 pages) SOCKS's 2nd Inauguration / We meet SOCKS at Children's Hospital
    __#14 (8 pages) SOCKS's Inaugural Address / Saving Australia's Cats / SOCKS Cloned!
    __#15 (8 pages) A Day in the Life of SOCKS / Saving Singapore's Cats / Presidential Movies
    __#16 (8 pages) Chelsea leaves for college / A letter from Clinton / Cabinet Member Contest
[_] $20.00 S.A. Murray's beautiful full-color SOCKS T-shirt (© 1997, S.A. Murray)
                  [_]S    [_]M     [_]L     [_]XL     [_]XX (Add $1.00)     [_]XXX (Add $2.00)
[_] $  6.00 FIRST FAMILY PHOTO WALLET -- 10 color photos of SOCKS, BUDDY, and BILL
[_] $  3.00 SOCKS THE CAT FAN CLUB Button (shown below) - full-color, 2" diameter (2 for $5.00)
[_] $  4.00 IN BUDDY WE TRUST Button - full-color, 3" diameter
[_] $  4.00 Other Buttons (shown below) - full-color, 3" diameter (3 for $10.00)
                       [_] E Pluribus Meow     [_] Fala and SOCKS - Tradition!    [_] Baby Bill Clinton (1947)

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