WASHINGTON INSIGHT

OUTING THOMAS: Last week, Texas state attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of a ruling that forbids the use of affirmative action at the University of Texas Law School. Their first goal, clearly stated, is to win a reversal from the high court. The second goal, only hinted at, is to get Justice Clarence Thomas out of the case. A staunch foe of affirmative action, Thomas is seen as a sure vote against the university plan. But the attorneys noted they adopted their affirmative action plan under pressure from the U.S. Department of Education. That pressure came in a 1982 letter signed by “then-Assistant Secretary Clarence Thomas.” If Thomas removed himself from the case--which is not likely--the court would likely be evenly split and unable to issue a ruling.

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ABOUT FACE: Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) tried to carom off the Clinton character issue a few weeks ago by asking voters which candidate they would trust to watch over their children. The question was intended to bound across party lines, helping Dole. But the Washington Post spoiled the fun by posing the question in a nationwide poll. It found that 56% of those surveyed preferred President Clinton as family guardian and just 20% favored the Republican presidential candidate. Chortles echoed from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to Clinton campaign headquarters downtown. From the Dole camp came the sound of furious shoveling, but the thing will not be buried. Speaking Saturday at the White House correspondents dinner, Clinton asked: “If you went on vacation, who would you trust to water your plants--Bob Dole or Bill Clinton?” Or, when ordering late-night pizza, “who would you trust to choose the topping, Bob Dole or Bill Clinton?”

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DREAM DUO: Those who laughed when GOP consultant Jude Wanniski dreamed up the idea of Steve Forbes running for president soon changed their tune when the publishing magnate rocked the Republican nominating contest to its foundations. Given that track record, Wanniski’s latest, and admittedly more far-fetched dream--a Jack Kemp/Colin L. Powell ticket backed by Ross Perot’s Reform Party--should not be dismissed out of hand. “A Kemp/Powell ticket would get massive attention without a dime being spent on 30-second spots,” claims Wanniski, a longtime Kemp confidant. The big stumbling block, he says, would be trying to convince Reform Party founder Perot, never one to dodge the limelight, that he should stay on the sidelines.

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GREEN SPACE: The National Resources Defense Council, eager to follow its own advice, is constructing its new office here largely from creatively used agricultural products. Work surfaces, for instance, will be made from reycled newspaper, soy flour and soy resins. Cabinets in the 20,000-square-foot office will be made out of “agricultural waste fiberboard.” Walls and doors will be fashioned from compressed wheat straw. Not only are the cost of the “eco-friendly materials” only slightly higher than the conventional allowance for office tenants in the capital, but they have an added benefit, according to one supporter of the concept. “If they get hungry, they can just throw a little salad dressing on it.”

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STRAIGHT MAN: Al Gore, the vice president who jokes that he is so dull that his Secret Service code name is Al Gore, said at a Peace Corps conference here: “Washington was so cold this winter that people who didn’t know me said I was frozen stiff.”