TRANSITION WATCH

HANGERS-ON: All across the Bush Administration, high-powered officials are preparing to jump ship, secure in the knowledge they’ll be thrown overboard if they don’t. A rare few, though, actually seem to be entertaining thoughts of avoiding such a fate. For a political appointee, succeeding at hanging on involves some deft work--for starters, appearing not to be political after all, or not so much as to offend. . . . At NASA, Daniel S. Goldin, a former TRW executive and nominal Democrat who was named to head the space agency only last year, is making it known that he would like very much to stay on. . . . “He’s very enthusiastic about his job,” an associate said. On Election Day, Goldin announced three major appointments, causing startled aides to wonder whether he was being pointedly optimistic--or merely whistling past the graveyard.

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STILL CHIEF? The hottest speculation centers on Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Colin L. Powell, who has nearly a year left on his term. . . . The general has been closely tied to the last two GOP administrations, which would seem to be a problem. But he is a household name from the Gulf War triumph and so well regarded that he could be a dangerous voice against Clinton’s proposed defense cuts if left on the outside, shooting in. . . . One problem may have disappeared: Retired Navy Adm. William J. Crowe Jr. says he has no interest in a top Clinton post even though he has served as a key supporter to the Democrat. Crowe was Powell’s predecessor, but there is no love lost between the two.

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AT THE NIH: Then there is Dr. Bernardine Healy, the first woman to head the National Institutes of Health--the world’s premier biomedical research facility. She has made it clear that she would very much like to hold on to her job. . . . NIH sources say she began making overtures to the Clinton camp months ago. Even though she was appointed by President Bush, the NIH director’s job has traditionally been considered apolitical and she may get her wish.

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TIME OFF: Winning quarterbacks go to Disneyland. Winning political consultants? . . . Well, Bill Clinton’s top strategist, James Carville, is headed for Paris and Venice with his Republican flame Mary Matalin, who was Bush’s deputy campaign manager. The two tried, for a while, to pretend their relationship was on hold during the campaign, but no one bought it. No doubt they will have much to talk about. . . . Carville’s partner, Paul Begala, has less exalted plans. He and his wife and baby boy plan to head to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Begala hasn’t seen much of his son so far--John was born shortly after the Democratic Convention.

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ADD TRAVEL: Clinton’s chief pollster, Stanley B. Greenberg, heads to Argentina for a wedding, then plans to spend some time lolling on a Southern Hemisphere beach with his wife, newly reelected Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). After that, another high-profile assignment polling for a new client who faces an election soon: Nelson Mandela and his African National Congress. . . . Among the losers, old habits were hard to break. Bush sought solace at Camp David in rural Maryland. Chief campaign honcho James A. Baker III headed for southern Texas, gun in hand, to take it out on the turkey population.