WASHINGTON INSIGHT

STILL JUST ROY: Staffers at the Democratic National Committee let out a huge sigh of relief last week when Colorado Gov. Roy Romer announced he would not challenge incumbent Republican Ben Nighthorse Campbell in next year’s Senate elections. The endearing 68-year-old grandfather of 15, who would have resigned as DNC general chairman had he run for the Senate, has become immensely popular in the DNC, both for his candor and seeming naivete. Romer, a cattle rancher who runs a chain of John Deere stores, tells reporters he doesn’t engage in “spin” control like other politicos; he prefers to just plain “spill.” At a recent White House correspondents’ dinner, Romer turned to the celebrity seated next to him at the CBS table and said, “Hi, I’m Roy Romer. Who are you?” When the network’s newest star, home-and-garden czarina Martha Stewart, introduced herself, Romer replied, “Martha, what do you do?” And, after sharing a bottle of his favorite wine (Robert Mondavi Private Reserve Cabernet sauvignon) with DNC staffers at a Miami retreat for fat-cat donors, Romer retired early to his room to resume a “fascinating” book--a tome on finches.

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TARGETED PRESSURE: If Vice President Al Gore wasn’t one of the big political winners in the behind-the-scenes debate that culminated last week in tougher standards governing smog and soot in the air, he did manage to mollify some skeptical environmentalists. As supporters of the tough rules worried that the White House would buckle to industry pressure to relax the standards, they ran TV ads in New Hampshire and Iowa--key stops on the presidential campaign trail--asking where Gore stood on the issue. “We got feedback,” said one activist. The message from the vice president: “I’m here. I’m fighting. I’m doing everything I can, but I’m not going to stand up in front of the public and tell the president what to do.” By this account, Gore “didn’t weigh in for a long time, and then weighed in when it started getting difficult and very tight.” As for the effect of the ads, the activist said Gore and his staff “got the message very quickly.”

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UP IN SMOKE: The massive, multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign against the stricter air standards was the handiwork of President Bush’s White House counsel C. Boyden Gray among others. But in the end, all the opponents got was permission to exceed the new standards in a very limited way. The outcome left one near-giddy environmentalist imagining Gray moping down K Street, the lobbyists’ canyon in Washington, wearing a T-shirt that said: “I spent $15 million, lied about barbecues and fireworks, and all I got was one lousy exceedence.”

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FLYING FOR DOLLARS: President Clinton’s Chicago fund-raising fly-by last week pumped $1 million into Democratic campaign coffers, but it also contributed to an air-traffic nightmare at O’Hare International Airport, a key Midwest hub. So bad was the snarl that Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.) missed her own fund-raiser. Hours after the president left the Windy City, O’Hare still looked like it had been struck by a summer blizzard: overflowing waiting areas, notices of canceled flights, angry passengers forced to spend the night. As rumors spread about the president’s role in the tie-up, travelers expressed their aggravation. “Why does Air Force One have to fly into O’Hare? Isn’t there an Air Force base anywhere?” fumed grounded Albany, N.Y., flyer Bruce Williamson. “Bring an aircraft carrier into Lake Michigan and let him land on it.” O’Hare spokesman Dennis Culloton said air traffic was already complicated by severe thunderstorms, but “when you add in delays because of Air Force One, it doesn’t help.”