NOTEBOOK
By JAMES CARNEY, JANICE M. HOROWITZ, LINA LOFARO, EMILY MITCHELL AND ALAIN L. SANDERS
WINNERS & LOSERS
THE ART OF THE DEAL
[WINNERS]
JAMES MCDOUGAL Bill's ex-buddy gets reduced pokey time for singing to Starr's Whitewater inquiry. Done deal
JESSE HELMS Gets overhaul of State Department, so allows vote on chemical-weapons treaty. Tough deal
NIKE Forget Heaven's Gate; $40 million Tiger Woods contract looks cheap. Shrewd deal
[& LOSERS]
ROBERT BYRD Bars aide's guide dog from Senate floor, but Lott wisely changes no-canines rule. Dumb deal
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU Police charges of trading influence is Israel's Bibigate and Labor's hope. Sweetheart deal?
TOBACCO COMPANIES Seeking immunity from lawsuits, they let old resistance go up in smoke. Desperate deal
THE G.O.P. CAMPAIGN 2000 TIP SHEET
1296 Days Until the Next Presidential Election
It's getting to be that time again. Even as Washington is paralyzed by campaign-finance reform, many Republican worthies are looking in the mirror and asking, "Why not me?" We haven't bothered with Jack Kemp and Lamar Alexander--they haven't stopped running--but everyone else is booking flights to New Hampshire and Iowa.
CANDIDATE JOHN ASHCROFT MISSOURI SENATOR SIGN OF RUNNING Talking the talk at New York media hot spots PLAUSIBILITY FACTOR As they say in Missouri, "You gotta show me" WANTS TO REMIND US OF: Thinking man's Pat Buchanan ACTUALLY REMINDS US OF: Pat Buchanan
[CANDIDATE] GEORGE W. BUSH TEXAS GOVERNOR [SIGN OF RUNNING] Has been interviewing top G.O.P. operatives [PLAUSIBILITY FACTOR] He's the only Republican with any swagger [WANTS TO REMIND US OF:] Barbara Bush [ACTUALLY REMINDS US OF:] George Bush
[CANDIDATE] ELIZABETH DOLE FORMER FIRST LADY CANDIDATE [SIGN OF RUNNING] Endorsed (again) last week at Harvard by husband Bob [PLAUSIBILITY FACTOR] Already has a good job [WANTS TO REMIND US OF:] Maggie Thatcher [ACTUALLY REMINDS US OF:] Anita Bryant
[CANDIDATE] ORRIN HATCH SENATE JUDICIARY CHAIRMAN [SIGN OF RUNNING] He's been whispering it himself--hoping someone will listen [PLAUSIBILITY FACTOR] Uh, oh, making friends with Ted Kennedy on health care [WANTS TO REMIND US OF:] Honest Abe [ACTUALLY REMINDS US OF:] Borin' Orrin
[CANDIDATE] JOHN KASICH HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN [SIGN OF RUNNING] He just got married [PLAUSIBILITY FACTOR] Has youth, energy but needs a decent haircut [WANTS TO REMIND US OF:] Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington [ACTUALLY REMINDS US OF:] Dennis the Menace
[CANDIDATE] JOHN MCCAIN ARIZONA SENATOR [SIGN OF RUNNING] Feeling out fund raisers [PLAUSIBILITY FACTOR] Time for a Republican Vietnam war hero [WANTS TO REMIND US OF:] Sergeant York [ACTUALLY REMINDS US OF:] The Bob Kerry of the G.O.P.
[CANDIDATE] COLIN POWELL FORMER CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF [SIGN OF RUNNING] No real ones, as usual [PLAUSIBILITY FACTOR] He's the colossus of the field--if he wants it [WANTS TO REMIND US OF:] Colin Powell [ACTUALLY REMINDS US OF:] Hamlet
[CANDIDATE] FRED THOMPSON TENNESSEE SENATOR [SIGN OF RUNNING] His $6.5 million request to investigate 1996 campaign abuses [PLAUSIBILITY FACTOR] No longer a jinx against movie stars in the White House [WANTS TO REMIND US OF:] John Wayne [ACTUALLY REMINDS US OF:] That guy in The Hunt for Red October
[CANDIDATE] CHRISTINE WHITMAN NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR [SIGN OF RUNNING] Her husband is telling everybody she is [PLAUSIBILITY FACTOR] She'll get the women's vote but not Ralph Reed's [WANTS TO REMIND US OF:] Princess Diana [ACTUALLY REMINDS US OF:] Princess Anne
HEALTH REPORT
THE GOOD NEWS
--Zeroing in on PROSTATE CANCER? An experimental blood test may be able to detect 95% of prostate cancers--and avoid unnecessary biopsies. Unlike today's screening test, which measures the total level of prostate-specific antigen, the new one homes in on just one important form of PSA.
--Be still thy heart. For serious HEART ARRHYTHMIAS, an implanted defibrillator works far better than medication--and saves significantly more lives.
--The PLACEBO EFFECT, long recognized as real but temporary, may in fact last years. Half of men given dummy pills for enlarged prostates nevertheless said they felt better after two years. Their symptoms (like urinary-flow problems) improved, even though their prostate had grown.
THE BAD NEWS
--Sobering facts about alcohol. Women under the age of 45 who knock back 14 or more drinks a week may double their chance of developing BREAST CANCER. Why? Researchers think alcohol may raise blood levels of estrogen, a hormone linked to the cancer.
--Depressing news about depression. A 29-year study finds that CLINICALLY DEPRESSED adults may face a 50% increased risk of dying from stroke. Depression--which is treatable--may somehow alter blood-platelet activity, which in turn may trigger clot formation.
--Coughing kids. The incidence of children with WHOOPING COUGH--a serious, sometimes fatal disease that's preventable with a vaccination--has shot up 83% so far this year, compared with the same period in 1996.
Sources--GOOD NEWS: American Urological Association meeting (1,3); National Institutes of Health BAD NEWS: Epidemiology; Society of Behavioral Medicine meeting; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
SEATTLE SLEW, 23; MIDWAY, KENTUCKY; 1977 Triple Crown Winner
The bluegrass is at its finest in spring, and for Seattle Slew, the legendary Thoroughbred, the season is especially sweet. The dark brown stallion spends nights out in his 2 1/2-acre paddock at Three Chimneys Farm and, after a morning gallop, is ready for his first mare of the day. This year he's booked with 65--he breeds twice daily from February through June. The mares' owners hope he'll pass on his winning ways and invincible spirit, as he has already to progeny Cigar and this year's Derby hopeful Pulpit. In the afternoon Slew's a show horse: thousands of people visit him each year, and the champion savors the attention. "He's tough," says farm manager Dan Rosenberg, "but kind, and he'll do anything you ask him to do as long as you pose it as a question. If you give him an order, you're going to have a fight on your hands. And you're going to lose."