ELECTION NOTEBOOK

By KATHLEEN ADAMS, CHARLOTTE FALTERMAYER, JANICE M. HOROWITZ, LINA LOFARO, BELINDA LUSCOMBE, JEFFERY C. RUBIN, ALAIN L. SANDERS AND SIDNEY URQUHART

WINNERS & LOSERS

IT'S OVER

[WINNERS]

TIM WATTERS Four more years of steady work for the $10,000-a-pop Bill Clinton impersonator

LIDDY DOLE Will now have no incumbent to oppose in race for the Republican nomination in 2000

HARRY THOMASON Clintons' Arkansas/Hollywood pal gets second shot at White House travel office

[LOSERS]

NORM MACDONALD Without Dole impression, left with only Weekend Update to do on Saturday Night Live

KENNEDY Oddball, retro MTV veejay made appearances with Dole; won't get to emcee Inaugural show

CHELSEA CLINTON Off to college next year--accompanied by Secret Service. Will they let her inhale?

MORRY AGONISTES

Forbes. Gramm. Buchanan. It seems like a lifetime ago, but it was only last winter that we were avidly following the fortunes of Bob Dole's primary opponents. Perhaps the most quixotic was Morry Taylor, the 52-year-old president and CEO of Titan Wheel International Inc. Taylor spent more than $7 million but won only 25,000 primary and caucus votes.

His latest political move hasn't worked out so well either. Last month he sent a letter to his 3,200 domestic employees (see signature below) offering them an extra day of vacation if they voted on Election Day. Now Washington has told Taylor that it is illegal to give any type of monetary incentive to encourage individuals to vote. "Can you believe that? Your own government does not want the working men and women of this country to vote," he told employees. The boss himself is voting for Dole but would prefer Liddy or Hillary. "They both made all the money in the family," he says. "They have the experience to be CEO of the largest corporation in the world--the U.S. government."

THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE

TIME's Campaign '96 Awards recognize outstanding achievements by politicians, their relatives and their hecklers

MOST EMBARRASSING HISTORICAL GAFFE--CLINTON: "The last time I checked, the Constitution said, '...of the people, by the people and for the people.' That's what the Declaration of Independence says." Wrong on both counts. It's the Gettysburg Address.

MOST EMBARRASSING HISTORICAL GAFFE--DOLE: "The Brooklyn Dodgers had a no-hitter last night." The Dodgers left Brooklyn in 1957.

MOST INDISCREET CAMPAIGN AIDE (besides Dick Morris): J.E. (Billy) McKinney, father of Cynthia A. McKinney, a Georgia Democrat running for the House, resigned as her adviser after invoking the Rev. Louis Farrakhan and calling her opponent, Republican John Mitnick, "a racist Jew."

THE METAPHOR-TOO-FAR AWARD: A bridge to the past...to the 21st century...to higher taxes and more teenage drug use...Whatever.

MOST FURTIVE EXECUTIVE ACT: Clinton signed controversial anti-gay-marriage legislation at 12:50 a.m.

THE ANGRY-WHITE-MALE MEMORIAL PRIZE: To this year's overanalyzed demographic cliche--the soccer mom.

STEALTHIEST ENDORSEMENT: New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani came out for Dole-Kemp just before Game 6 of the World Series.

MOST FARSIGHTED POL-TO-BE: High school senior Brendan Cuminskey, appearing with Bill Clinton, made sure his handshake got recorded by the press. "Lightning just might strike twice," he said, recalling Clinton's 1963 photo with J.F.K.

MOST VICIOUS AD: In California's 3rd District, a television ad from Republican Tim LeFever morphed the face of Polly Klaas' killer, Richard Allen Davis, into that of Democratic incumbent Vic Fazio.

THE SLIGHT-INCONSISTENCY MEDAL: To Al Gore, who left not a dry eye in the house at the Democratic Convention as he described his sister's death from smoking-induced lung cancer. Gore failed to mention that for some years following her death, his family continued to grow tobacco and that he continued to accept campaign money from tobacco interests.

MOST NAUSEATING SPIN: Gore explained the above by saying, "I felt the numbness that prevented me from integrating into all aspects of my life the implications of what that tragedy really meant."

BEST BRANDO IMITATION--THE WILD ONE YEARS: Liddy Dole appeared on the Tonight Show dressed in leather and riding a motorcycle.

MOST BIZARRE EXCHANGE: "You're a draft-dodging, yellow-bellied liar!" yelled Valerie Parker as the President jogged by on a beach in California. "You're a disgrace to the office of the presidency, to your gender and to this nation!" Deafened by the surf, Clinton gave her a thumbs-up sign.

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE

In years past, TIME has always prepared two covers well before Election Night. New technology made that unnecessary this year.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW

LEON RITZENTHALER, 58; Paradise, California; Retired janitorial-service owner and Bill Clinton's half brother

Not long after the Washington Post broke the story, on Father's Day 1993, that Ritzenthaler was the son of President Clinton's well-traveled father, one of Ritzenthaler's buddies joked, "Remember how Jimmy Carter had an embarrassment of a brother named Billy? Well, now Leon's got one." Although Clinton has never publicly acknowledged the relationship, he called Ritzenthaler in 1994 to wish him good luck in his heart surgery, and has written him several letters. The two met for 20 minutes last year on Jan. 17 (which happens to be Ritzenthaler's birthday). "It was on the q.t. in California," Ritzenthaler says. "There were no journalists there, just me and Bill and my wife Judy." He describes his half brother as "very nice, warm, kind, honest, up front" and says they resemble each other "in the eyes." He planned to vote for Clinton, just as he did in 1992. "He has never invited us to the White House, but I hope someday we'll get an invitation."