WASHINGTON INSIGHT

DEMOCRATIC DISTRESS: Just how low have Democratic spirits sunk in the wake of their party’s midterm election drubbing? Low enough for some to talk openly about Clinton as a one-term President. Rep. Robert G. Torricelli, an outspoken New Jersey Democrat and occasional critic of Administration policies, said Clinton is likely to be history if the Republicans nominate someone such as California Gov. Pete Wilson or former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney in 1996. “Clinton is in the unenviable position that his fate is less in his hands than in his opponents,’ ” Torricelli said. “Under the current political circumstances, Bill Clinton running against a moderate and thoughtful Republican officeholder has the makings of a disaster.” But Torricelli said he remained optimistic that the GOP would tap an “ideological extremist.” Which means, he said, “at this point, one could envision a landslide in either direction.”

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LOBBYIST DISTRESS: Opinion polls regularly place lobbyists near the bottom of the Washington public image food chain--down there with journalists and lawmakers. This year has been particularly harsh for the profession as debate raged around the lobbying reform legislation approved by Congress. So how are lobbyists responding? By forming an association to lobby for their interests. The new nonprofit National Assn. of Registered Lobbyists is meeting Monday to “address the need for a strong lobbying association,” said John L. Zorack, president and founder. “I may be getting thin-skinned, but I’m angry when the public, Congress and even the President lambastes lobbyists.” If lobbyists did indeed “have Congress in their hip pockets,” he asked, then why were just 140 bills approved by lawmakers in a year when 2,076 were introduced? Lobbyists work long hours for corporations, trade associations and others, “protecting and furthering the interest of many entities petitioning government under the First Amendment.”

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GORE LITE: At least someone in the Clinton Administration is having fun these days. Vice President Al Gore, who has achieved as much notice for his self-deprecating humor as for his public policy positions in recent months, told a group of health, safety and food specialists this week that shedding the leg cast he had worn since August has left him in better physical condition to fulfill his vice presidential duties. “It takes me half as long to walk Socks now,” he said. The vice president had undergone Achilles’ tendon surgery after injuring himself in a basketball game with fellow Capitol Hill round-ballers at the House gymnasium.

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WHITEWATER SNIPING: Unhappiness over the selection of former Solicitor General Kenneth W. Starr as independent counsel in the Whitewater investigation has been renewed with two new complaints: Critics say that Starr is carrying on his private law practice while conducting the probe and that he showed partisanship by attending a recent unveiling of the portrait of the last attorney general in the George Bush Administration. Starr is among the lawyers for Hughes Aircraft Co. in the appeal of the largest patent case in history, but his defenders claim there will be no heavy duty in that matter for some time to come. Starr attended the unveiling earlier this month of former Atty. Gen. William P. Barr’s portrait at the Justice Department, but Starr’s supporters dismiss the raised eyebrows among some Justice Department officials by noting that he served under Barr.