Just Joshing: When George Bush gives a...

Just Joshing: When George Bush gives a speech, he sometimes warms up his audience with news-oriented humor. At a recent New York fund-raiser for congressional candidate Susan Molinari, he said: “Here I am in the middle of the battle right here in New York, where one of the great contests of 1990 will take place. A lot is at stake--there’s been a lot of money spent on both sides, a lot of press attention.” He paused, then quipped. “But I’m not here to talk about the Trumps.”

No Contest: Gretchen Polhemus, Miss USA 1989, has some advice for her newly crowned successor: “I told her to get an attorney. There’s a lot of things in that contract that are unclear.” Polhemus told the Wichita., Kan., Eagle in an interview published Sunday that she was required to work 12-hour days and hadn’t received all her prizes. The new Miss USA, Carole Gist, 20, of Detroit, was crowned Friday in Wichita. Pageant spokeswoman Sara Meza said officials renegotiated Polhemus’ contract to give her more days off after she complained.

Keeping Distance: Democratic candidates are not beating down Gov. Michael S. Dukakis’ door for his endorsement this year. Even Dukakis has joked that the best favor he could do for one Democratic candidate for treasurer, House Speaker George Keverian, would be to endorse the Republican opponent, Joe Malone. State Sen. Richard Kraus, candidate for treasurer, said of such an endorsement: “The negatives are so high right now.” Former state Atty. Gen. Francis X. Bellotti, a leading Democratic candidate for governor, “does not really place any value on an endorsement at that level,” said a spokesman. Rep. John Flood, who was an outspoken critic of the governor during the presidential campaign, said he would use a Dukakis endorsement against whoever received it. “Obviously, it would be used by the campaign as a negative,” he said.