WASHINGTON INSIGHT

JUST A DELEGATE: Patrick J. Buchanan thinks his second-place finish to Bob Dole in the Republican presidential race entitles him to a prominent role at the GOP convention in San Diego. But House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who will chair the convention, is telling reporters that Buchanan will only be “welcomed like any other delegate--if he is a delegate.” In his recent remarks, Gingrich also said Colin L. Powell’s refusal to consider joining the Dole ticket means the Republican presidential candidate must adjust his sights, considerably. “When it comes a time Mama doesn’t want to give you a Ferrari, you have to ask for a Buick or something else,” Gingrich said. And in his view, a Californian has enough horsepower to be on Dole’s short list. California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren would make “a great vice president,” Gingrich said.

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FINDING FAULTS: Two weeks ago, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo) said the White House committed nothing more than “a stupid, bureaucratic mistake” when it sought FBI files on former Reagan and Bush administration officials three years ago. He chastised Republicans for overreacting. “To build this up into . . . nuclear war is just an absurdity,” he said. Skip forward one week. Public opinion had swung against the White House--and Lantos delivered a tough message to the figure at the center of the storm. After D. Craig Livingstone told a congressional committee that he was resigning as supervisor of the office that obtained the files, Lantos responded by referring to the recent suicide of Chief of Naval Operations Jeremy M. Boorda. “I am pleased that you finally saw that this was the minimum, the minimum you should do in accepting a modicum of responsibility,” he told Livingstone. “With an infinitely more distinguished public record than yours, Adm. Boorda committed suicide when he may have committed a minor mistake.” Lantos said later that he was not suggesting that Livingstone do himself in, and that it is not inconsistent to criticize Republicans and also condemn Livingstone.

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BUTTMAN TOO: To remind voters that Dole has taken $385,000 in contributions from the tobacco industry during his congressional career, the Democrats are sending Buttman, a human costumed as a cigarette butt, to the candidate’s campaign appearances. Last month, Vice President Al Gore addressed part of a speech to Dole: “It’s not worth stinking up your reputation with the smoky stench of special interest politics and the dangerous din of dishonesty.” But Dole isn’t the only national office-seeker who took money from tobacco interests while in Congress. The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics says the industry and its leaders gave more than $21,000 to . . . Al Gore. Asked about the money, Gore communications director Lorraine Voles said the contributions were tiny compared to the amount given to Republicans and argued that they did not alter his “strong anti-smoking record.”

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YUK KING: President Clinton may have a 15- to 20-point advantage in voter preference polls, but Dole has surged to a commanding lead in another category: being the butt of jokes by late-night television talk-shows hosts. According to the Center for Media and Public Affairs, Dole has eclipsed Clinton as the favorite target of jokes by CBS funnyman David Letterman and NBC comics Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. The numbers show that from January to mid-June, Dole was zinged 311 times, compared to 243 for Clinton. The figures are not altogether frivolous, however, because a steady diet of jokes do tend to reinforce popular impressions of a candidate’s foibles. So which of these Leno jokes will you tote to the polls? “Dole leaving the Senate is like Grumpy leaving the Seven Dwarfs,” or “Doctors removed a growth from the end of Clinton’s nose. It gets longer every time he promises not to raise taxes.”