WASHINGTON INSIGHT

TOBACCO ADS: President Clinton may be attracting an unlikely ally in one of his most bruising political battles. At its conference in Washington later this month, the conservative Christian Coalition is planning to unveil its own proposal to regulate tobacco advertising aimed at young people--a centerpiece of Clinton’s agenda aimed at providing “tools” for parents. Although the proposal won’t mimic in all particulars the restrictions on tobacco advertising that Clinton announced last month, sources said it would be tougher than the compromise recently put forward by Philip Morris Cos. Inc. “It’s important to us to make clear we don’t think this is a partisan issue,” a source said. Earlier this year, Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration opposing its efforts to regulate tobacco advertising, although he has recently muted his criticism of the move.

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SEPARATION ANXIETY: Erskine Bowles, who left his post as deputy White House chief of staff in December to return to what he called his “natural habitat” of the private sector, is apparently finding it harder than he thought to escape Clinton’s gravitational field. When a tabloid last week alleged that Clinton’s top strategist, Dick Morris, had been carrying on with a prostitute, it fell to Bowles to delicately arrange for Morris’ resignation. Now comes word that Bowles, a Clinton favorite, will be heading the team that represents the president’s interests in the presidential debates. And Bowles’ admirers in the White House--of which there are many--are talking him up as a successor to White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta, should Panetta depart after the election.

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“NAUGHTY,” MOM SAYS: The 20th anniversary issue of Mother Jones, the lefty muckraking magazine, trumpets on its October cover an expose of the “12 most rotten eggs now sitting in Congress,” those members who “best reflect the specific character of corruption in the 104th Congress.” Nine Republicans and three Democrats are singled out for their cozy ties with special interests and the flood of money that washes over such members. Two California Democrats wound up on the “Dirty Dozen” list--Jane Harman of Rolling Hills and Vic Fazio of West Sacramento. They are taken to task for flogging the interests of the defense industry and agricultural interests in their respective districts. Despite the article’s vitriolic language and scathing caricatures (Harman hugging a Darth Vader helmet, Fazio clutching fistfuls of dollar-bill sprouting grapes), such attacks often play right into members’ hands. “It’s always nice to be recognized for effectively representing my district,” Harman coolly reacted. Fazio, letting his agricultural friends draw their own conclusions, chose not to touch the magazine’s package with a 10-foot hoe.

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BRIDGE TO PAST: While both presidential candidates battle for the title of Mr. Look Ahead, scholars and political operatives scoff. Clinton’s promise to build a “bridge to the future” in his convention acceptance speech was soon followed by Dole’s offering himself as a bridge to a future of lower taxes. But political scientists claim both are wasting their breath, pointing out that presidential campaigns in which an incumbent is involved are almost always decided by the electorate’s judgment on the incumbent’s performance. As proof, analysts cite challenger Ronald Reagan’s closing line in his televised debate against incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980. With the country wracked by inflation and frustrated by the Iranian hostage siege, Reagan asked Americans: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” The answer was a landslide triumph for Reagan.