WASHINGTON INSIGHT

GEPHARDT STRIKES BACK: Intra-Democratic tension between the party’s president, Bill Clinton, and its leader in the House, Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, has been mounting steadily as a result of ideological brawls over welfare reform and the federal budget. Hard feelings reached a peak last month when Gephardt led the fight to block Clinton’s fast-track trade legislation; Clinton’s embittered “New Democratic” allies labeled Gephardt an “Old Democrat.” This week Gephardt, a potential rival for Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 presidential sweepstakes, hit back at his critics, who pride themselves on their pragmatic approach to politics. “Pragmatism . . . cannot be a substitute for the principles that give us purpose and direction,” Gephardt told a forum at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The Missouri congressman also zinged New Democrats “who set their compass only off the direction of others . . . and who too often market a political strategy masquerading as policy.”

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PUTTING OTHER KIDS FIRST: Eleven-year-old Monta Wiley got himself elected class president at Edison Middle School in South Los Angeles, but didn’t know what to do with the newfound power. His mom had a few tips, but Monta, who lives in L.A.’s Pueblo del Rio public housing project, wanted to ask the expert. “I encourage you to learn all you can, to stay informed about the important issues that affect your school, and to be honest in all your endeavors,” President Clinton told Monta in a letter on White House stationery. “I ran for president because I am deeply concerned about building a better future for the American people. A candidate in a school election must also consider the needs of others first.”

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IT AIN’T OVER TIL . . . : For years as U.N. ambassador, Madeleine Albright pleased Clinton administration officials as their most polished foreign policy performer on television. Now that she is secretary of State, she is even better--clear, intelligent, unruffled and witty. Many in Washington are still chortling over her appearance on a recent ABC-TV “This Week” show. Host Sam Donaldson, noting the baseball expression, “It ain’t over till it’s over,” asked Albright if the latest confrontation with Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was over. Albright replied that U.N. inspectors still had to scour Iraq and make sure it was rid of all weapons of mass destruction. Then the secretary dipped into opera just the way Donaldson had dipped into baseball. “You used a sports expression,” she said with a wide smile, “but I say it’s not over until I sing!” Amid laughter around him, the usually unflappable Donaldson looked a little flapped. “Well,” he said, “I won’t continue this.”

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AVOCADOS OR ABOGADOS? Jesus Reyes-Heroles, the new Mexican ambassador to the United States, got his first taste of Washington press corps wit the other day. Discussing trade issues, he noted that Mexican avocados were finally coming to the United States now that the Department of Agriculture has lifted an 83-year-old ban. One press wag, showing off his mastery of the Spanish language, broke in, “Ambassador, you did say ‘avocados’ and not ‘abogados,’ right?” Abogado is the Spanish word for lawyer. Reyes-Heroles laughed and quickly replied, “Abogados, we can’t trade them because our legal system is very difficult.” The reporter agreed that there would be no point in importing them. “We grow abogados here in Washington,” he said.