WASHINGTON

By JAMES CARNEY/WASHINGTON

Bill Clinton is not supposed to jawbone the chairman of the Federal Reserve, lest the financial world think he is trying to influence interest rates. But he got a chance to bend ALAN GREENSPAN's ear on another subject this week when the Fed chairman and his wife, NBC correspondent ANDREA MITCHELL, passed through the receiving line at the annual White House Christmas party for members of the press. As they posed for pictures, Clinton asked Greenspan whether he and Mitchell owned a dog. "You ought to get one," Clinton enthused as he recounted tales of his new puppy Buddy. "I think interest rates will go down!" Turning to another member of the press, Clinton joked that "this is the only place I get to talk to [Greenspan]" and then added, "I think the market will hit 8500 if he gets a dog!" The inscrutable Greenspan withheld his thoughts on a canine-monetary policy connection.

--By James Carney/Washington