WASHINGTON INSIGHT

QUAYLE EQUATION: Former Vice President Dan Quayle called former Gen. Colin L. Powell recently to tell the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that he was planning to run for the presidency in 1996. But in addition to relaying his intentions, Quayle made two or three runs at this question: Would Powell be joining the race? . . . More than any other potential candidate, Powell’s entry could upset the political equations. He would bring a lifetime of experience in national security issues and, as the first African American to head the nation’s military, also bring a lifetime of experience in breaking color barriers. But each time Quayle brought the conversation around to Powell’s 1996 intentions, Powell avoided any direct answer, leaving Quayle with the clear impression that the popular retired general was not yet in the race--but certainly not out of it.

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THE SHERMAN DENIAL? U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter F. Mondale did his best this week to scotch inside-the-Beltway rumors that he may be tapped to replace Secretary of State Warren Christopher as part of some midterm reshuffle of the Clinton Administration’s foreign policy team. “I’m the ambassador to Japan, I’m going to be the ambassador to Japan, and I’m glad I’m there,” the former vice president told questioners in an appearance before the National Press Club during a brief stopover in Washington. “I think Warren Christopher’s doing a good job. The President has said the same thing.” . . . Mondale also seized the occasion to deliver a new message about the links between foreign and domestic policy--particularly on crime and gun control. Whenever he meets with young Japanese in Tokyo, the ambassador said, “they want to come to the United States, go to school and so on, but they fear for their lives and their safety. . . . The lack of safety in the streets really causes them to question whether we’re falling apart.” Mondale argued that problems with crime and guns are seriously damaging America’s image overseas.

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GOING THE EXTRA MILES: Republicans, nourishing high hopes of scoring big gains in the off-year elections, are going those extra miles at the start of the fall campaign season. Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) not only stumped for other GOP candidates in his home state, but also scheduled appearances in Michigan, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state during the recess. House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) also kept busy, campaigning in New Jersey and Delaware. In contrast, Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) stayed off the hustings, except for a Labor Day appearance with President Clinton in Maine, and Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) bit the bullet and campaigned in Honolulu for Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii).

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UNEXPECTED OPPOSITION: If Republican wishes come true and the GOP regains control of the House of Representatives in 1994 or 1996, Gingrich’s assumed ascension to Speaker could run into opposition from an unexpected source: the Christian conservative movement. In a new report card on legislators, the Christian Action Network singles out the Georgia Republican for inclusion in its congressional “Hall of Shame.” . . . The reason: Gingrich’s work with the Clinton Administration on the North American Free Trade Agreement and his opposition to a 1993 amendment reaffirming the military’s complete ban on homosexuals. “Based on the things I’ve heard, there will be opposition to (Gingrich) from Christian activists,” said Martin J. Mawyer, the president of the network, a grass-roots lobbying group with about 60,000 members.