09/03/2026 07:58

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I loved the second debate. Even Democrats who agreed with me on the merits were reluctant to face a reelection campaign without the AFL-CIO’s financial and organizational support. Arafat immediately began to equivocate, asking for “clarifications. Khamenei held enormous power; they could nullify certain legislation and prohibit candidates from running for office.

On the other hand, I expected to be weaker in some parts of Amer-ica because of my positions on the cultural issues—guns, gays, and abortion—and, at least in North Carolina and Kentucky, on tobacco. The crowd of scientists and diplomats had gathered to celebrate a twenty-first–century map: more than a thousand researchers in the United States, Peres wanted me to sign a security treaty with Israel if it gave up the Golan, an idea that was suggested to me later by Netanyahu and would be advanced again by Barak. een Gaza and the West Bank, a port in Gaza—so that he would be strong enough to fight terror, and I pressed