WASHINGTON INSIGHT / Campaign ’96

THAT WAS THEN: A Sept. 24, 1985, letter unearthed by The Times this week in a review of former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander’s papers lauds the GOP presidential hopeful as “one of those rare individuals who knows how to get things done, even if they’re out of the ordinary.” It’s a document hardly worth notice--if it weren’t for the “Forbes Magazine” letterhead and the closing, “Cordially, Steve.” That would be Forbes publisher Steve Forbes, who in the rollicking contest for the Republican nomination has relentlessly rapped Alexander’s performance as a governor. Forbes might be forgiven a little hyperbole, however, given his purposes for the letter. It was written in an exchange of correspondence over planning for a lucrative advertising supplement to Forbes magazine promoting Tennessee.

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SQUEEZY FEELING: It’s not just lack of money that could drive Alexander out of the presidential race after weak showings Tuesday in Arizona and the Dakotas. Insiders say he could hurt his once-bright chances for the vice presidency on a ticket with Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) because the longer he stays in, the more he siphons from the pool of moderate voters whose support Dole needs to withstand the challenges of Patrick J. Buchanan and Forbes. Still another reason for him to get out, bruited about privately among GOP pros: The longer Alexander’s candidacy lasts, the more attention will focus on the controversial business deals that have raised questions about his sense of propriety. What remains unclear from the public record is where Alexander drew the line on the issue of acquisitiveness versus ethics. Asked early in his candidacy by an interviewer whether there had been any money-making propositions he turned down because of ethical problems, Alexander replied: “I’m not sure there were.”

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EVERYWHERE MAN: In Wisconsin this week, a certain lawyer is representing Gov. Tommy Thompson in a lawsuit over the use of state scholarship funds to send inner-city students to private schools. Next month, the same attorney appears at the Supreme Court for arguments in an intricate labor-management case involving the National Football League. And somehow, lawyer Kenneth W. Starr also is finding time to handle what is indisputably the biggest case in the country: the Whitewater investigation of President and Mrs. Clinton. The juggling act by Starr, who is working out of Little Rock, Ark., as independent counsel on Whitewater, is raising eyebrows in legal circles among those who wonder how he devotes enough attention to Whitewater. Associates reply only that Starr has an amazing capacity for work.

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UNBASHFUL BARBOUR: With his party enduring a chaotic and divisive nominating race, Republican National Chairman Haley Barbour ought to have his hands full. But he still had time this week to admonish political reporters for their coverage of the campaign. In their absorption with the GOP’s tumultuous horse race, Barbour said, reporters were overlooking issues of lasting significance. As an example of those enduring issues, he enclosed a copy of a speech on “America’s values” that a certain political figure delivered before a conservative group last week. The speechmaker? One guess.

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QUOTE: “I would say he seems to be a slow learner.”--Pentagon spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon, when asked to respond to a vow by Brothers to the Rescue leader Jose Basulto to return Saturday to the spot where Cuban air force fighters shot down two of his organization’s planes last weekend.