WASHINGTON INSIGHT / Campaign ’96

THE USUAL: After the exhausting pace of work in Congress last winter, when the new Republican majority raced to do as much as possible in its first 100 days, life has returned to normal on Capitol Hill. This chart, based on information from the Congressional Monitor, represents work for the first two months of each year:

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1993 1994 1995 1996 House Hours in session 85 65 297 117 Roll call votes 33 32 176 42 Measures passed 42 22 71 34 Senate Hours in session 92 166 316 102 Roll call votes 20 46 97 21 Measures passed 46 25 57 39

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WHITE VOTERS: A growing share of consumer advertising in California is in messages tailored to ethnic minorities. Don’t expect the same, however, in this year’s election campaigns. For all the state’s celebrated diversity, non-Latino whites remain by far the largest bloc in statewide elections, polls show. While the state’s population is now approaching one-half minority--with 30% Latino, 10% Asian, 7% black--politicos in both parties predict that in coming elections, only about 20% of voters will be members of minority groups. The reason, they say, is that many minorities are immigrants from countries that have a weaker tradition of voting, and because many are young people who can’t vote yet. This is likely to change as the Latino and Asian population grows older, but only gradually.

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A QUESTION OF PRIORITIES: Bob Dole reported back to his day job as Senate majority leader on Wednesday, but his campaign for the presidency continued. A batch of second-graders from a Virginia school greeted him, getting his signature on a copy of “The Quotable Bob Dole” and having their picture taken with him. One wanted to know what was the secret for getting elected. “I’ll let you know in November,” Dole joked. But even the presumptive GOP nominee was reminded of priorities when one child noticed the nearby TV cameras and asked, “Are we going to be on TV?” At that point all the students turned their backs on Dole, jumped up and down and waved into the whirring cameras.

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FOUL LANGUAGE: Vice President Al Gore appeared with Democratic leaders last week at a Capitol Hill press conference to discuss environmental issues. But a pesky reporter asked instead about Russia’s attempt to ban imports of American poultry. Gore, somewhat irritated by the diversion, did his best to respond. How did he do, a member of Gore’s press office asked someone on the veep’s Hill staff afterward. “Great,” came the reply. “He just winged it.” As U.S. officials scramble to avoid a brooding trade war with Russia over chicken parts, Gore’s staff says the puns have proved so irresistable that a new rule has been imposed in his office: no chicken jokes and, especially, no chicken puns.

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WRONG WAY: The Republican Fund for the Nineties sent out a “VCR Alert” last Friday--two days after the Republican presidential field narrowed to candidates Bob Dole and Patrick J. Buchanan. The flier advertised a special event: “Lamar Alexander will appear on C-SPAN’s ‘Road to the White House’ on Sunday, March 17. . . .”