WASHINGTON INSIGHT / Campaign ’96

NO, NO, NO, NO: If Colin L. Powell keeps saying no, it may cost him the veep’s slot--or so he apparently hopes. The retired general continued his quest Wednesday to smother the relentless speculation that he will be Republican Sen. Bob Dole’s running mate. Powell told about 5,000 people at a cellular communications convention in Dallas that he has not changed his mind since declaring in November that he was not interested in seeking public office this year. “I do not feel I have the commitment or passion for political life,” he said. As if Powell’s words weren’t clear enough, his compatriots continue to weigh in with interpretations. “As I know him, he said no, he means no,” former Bush administration Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said in a televised interview.

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SLAM DUNKED: The new congressional gift ban has claimed an unusual victim: college basketball broadcasts. Until this year, CBS had given viewers of Congress’ in-house television system access to all games the network covered during the NCAA tournament. Using the free service, congressional staff members could switch to any regionally broadcast games--an advantage over home viewers who can watch only the game provided in their area. But CBS pulled the plug this year for fear the special feed amounted to an improper gift to Congress as defined under strict rules that took effect Jan. 1. Just how valuable was the feed? Gerald Grossman, a CBS executive to whom the network directed inquiries, said: “I hate to be vague and uncooperative, but I have no idea.”

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TAX BREAK: House Republicans will try to use the Easter-Passover congressional break to capitalize on the mood of constituents laboring to meet the April 15 tax deadline. “People tend to focus most on taxes during the first part of April,” said Mike Franc, spokesman for House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas). “It is a good point to ask them, ‘How do you feel about your tax burden?’ ” So while taxpayers are grumbling about their 1040 forms, Republicans will be preaching the GOP gospel of giving tax credits to families, overhauling the tax code and lowering taxes. To cap their antitax campaign when Congress reconvenes, House GOP leaders have scheduled a vote on April 15 on an amendment to the Constitution requiring a two-thirds majority of Congress to approve tax increases.

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COOL VOTERS: The music video network MTV delivered bad news this year for its “Rock The Vote” campaign to register young voters. Rock The Vote’s goal is for turnout in the November elections to surpass the healthy youth vote of 1992. But MTV’s first election poll of the season reveals that among young adults, ages 17 to 29, more than two out of three say they are “turned off” by the election. “They’re frustrated that no one is discussing issues that are important to them,” said Gwen Lipsky, an exec at MTV. The hot issues for that age group, according to the poll: environmental protection, raising the minimum wage and balancing the budget. A preelection poll conducted by MTV in 1992 found that 61% of young voters were committed to voting that year. The turnout among young adults, ages 18 to 24, that year was 42%.

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ALMOST CATHOLIC: With the campaign year in full swing, the candidates are trying to tout connections to every community and group they visit. Dole joked recently that his staff had figured out he could claim roots in more than half of the states, for instance. And President Clinton executed a neat trick in Cincinnati last weekend as he tried to connect with a crowd at Xavier University, one of the nation’s oldest Jesuit colleges. “I tell everyone I’m the closest Baptist you’ll ever get to a Jesuit!”