Altered Egos

In a four-page newsletter mailed to his constituents last fall, California Democrat John V. Tunney used the words "I" or "the Senator" 25 times on the first page, 64 times in all. Among politicians, that is not excessive or unusual. But Republican Congressman Alphonzo Bell, who is running for Tunney's seat this year, complained to the Senate Select Committee on Standards and Conduct that the Senator was abusing his franking privilege to promote his reelection.

The committee did not consider Bell's claim, but by a unanimous vote decided that senatorial vanity was indeed exceeding the bounds of modesty. Henceforth, ruled the committee, the pronouns "I," "he" and "his," as well as "the Senator" or the word "Senator" followed by the officeholder's name, may occur no more than five times per page on franked newsletters.

Not exactly prohibitive, but the limit may prove a harrowing restraint to the ample egos in the upper chamber. Just before the new rules were approved, Nevada's Howard Cannon--who happens to be chairman of the committee--had sent out a newsletter with nine references to himself on the first page, six on the second. His latest two-page newsletter, however, is a model of restraint: it contains a total of only five such references.

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