Dick Morris’ Book Deal Worth Up to $3 Million

Since resigning from President Clinton’s campaign late last week, strategist Dick Morris has reached out to the media he once avoided in a bid to bounce back quickly from the sex scandal that knocked him from power.

Almost immediately after published reports of Morris’ involvement with a Washington call girl prompted his exit, he was offering himself for an interview with Time, which has put him on the cover for the second consecutive week. He was speaking, too, about wanting to work as a political commentator.

But the most striking evidence that Morris hopes to rebound, not retreat to the doghouse in embarrassment, was an announcement Wednesday night that Random House has signed him to write a book focusing on his past two years as Clinton’s top political consultant.

Terms were not disclosed but sources indicated Thursday that Morris will receive up to $3 million.

“The book will be about his genius in helping Clinton stage a comeback,” said ReganBooks Publisher Judith Regan, a competitor, who met with Morris and his agent hours before the two men agreed to terms with Random House. “[Morris] said that, on balance, the book would be favorable to Clinton.”

Random House Publisher Harold M. Evans said he expects a “frank book about himself and politics.” He added: “Someone asked me how I could publish a book by Dick Morris. If I stopped publishing books by people whose sex lives I disapprove of, I’d have no books at all.”

* Paul D. Colford is a columnist for Newsday.