Honey, I've Asked the Macbeths In for Drinks

In the Clintonian 1990s, the President and his wife aren't the only Washington couple whose careers are brilliantly synergistic. Here's a list of some of the others, ranked by their GorbScore, a rating from 1 to 10 derived from a formula that measures the couple's influence and charm, using as a benchmark the models of modern power partnership, Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev.

G = (P1 x P2) + .4(SD1 x SD2) / DLC P=Power, SD=Social Desirability, DLC=Degree to which the DLC couple has anything to do with the Democratic Leadership Council

1. Bob and Elizabeth Dole 9.4

Senate minority leader/president of the Red Cross; flip side to Bill and Hillary

2. Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Martin Ginsburg 9.1

Supreme Court Justice/Ross Perot's sometime tax attorney; nice jobs to have these days

3. Marian Wright Edelman and Peter Edelman 8.9

President, Children's Defense Fund/counselor at HHS; liberal icons, she as Hillary's spiritual godmother, he as R.F.K. aide

4. Strobe Talbott and Brooke Shearer 8.6

Czar of all policy dealing with former U.S.S.R./director of White House intern program; Oxford-era F.O.B.S, and she decides future of ambitious policy wonks

5. Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell 8.4

Fed chairman/NBC White House correspondent (dating); adroit on tennis courts and as dinner partners

6. Bruce and Hattie Babbitt 8.3

Interior Secretary/delegate to Organization of American States; points for popularity

7. James Carville and Mary Matalin 7.8

Clinton's gonzo populist strategist/former Bush campaign aide and current CNBC talk-show host; relishing their odd-couple image

8. Tim Russert and Maureen Orth 7.5

NBC Washington bureau chief/special correspondent for Vanity Fair; she took capable Buffalo, New York, pol and led him to media glamour

9. Al Hunt and Judy Woodruff 7.4

Wall Street Journal D.C. bureau chief/CNN anchor; fixtures of permanent media establishment, give good parties

10. Tom and Ruth Harkin 6.8

Democratic Senator from Iowa/ president, Overseas Private Investment Corp.; his presidential bid never exactly took off

11. Joseph Duffey and Anne Wexler 6.4

USIA director/lobbyist with the Wexler Group; well-liked old liberals

12. Kerry Kennedy Cuomo and Andrew Cuomo 6.1

Director of the R.F.K. Memorial Center for Human Rights/Assistant Secretary at HUD; not much fun but great last names

13. Haynes Johnson and Marcia Hale 5.8

Washington Post writer/President's director of scheduling; he writes books, she juggles world's most fluid schedule

14. Bob Barnett and Rita Braver 5.7

Lawyer, agent to media and political stars for book and television contracts/ CBS White House correspondent; he's feared as much by the networks as she is by the White House

15. Susan Molinari and Bill Paxon 3.6

Staten Island, New York, Congresswoman/Buffalo, New York, Congressman (both Republicans); extra points for announcing their engagement on House floor this month