Occasional morsels from Campaign 2000

Air Bradley

After reporters flying with Bill Bradley complained his plane was too cold, the Democrat’s entourage switched to flying on fancier wings. Christened “The Bradley Bordello,” the rented Boeing 727 features mauve silk wallpaper, ruffled curtains and faux gold-plated seat belt buckles. The crew says the jet used to ferry high rollers to Nevada casinos, and legend has it Madonna once hitched a ride. That could explain the aft bathroom with its smoked-glass mirrors, padded walls and a divan that hides the toilet.

Money better spent?

Former candidate Steve Forbes spent $76 million on his White House campaigns for 1996 and 2000. What else would that pay for?

* The salaries for every player on a National Football League team, capped at $62.5 million.

* All the campaign costs of the 342 Republican challengers who ran for the House of Representatives in 1998.

* Lots of cars. For example, 353 new Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph sedans.

* A Forbes magazine subscription for each of nearly 2 million voters.

Busted

Hey you--in the McCain campaign bus--pull over!

Speeding? A busted taillight? No, simply a state trooper and fan of John McCain who was eager to meet him on a highway outside Charleston, S.C.

The campaign bus was pursued by a police cruiser, lights flashing, and asked to stop, all so state Trooper Michael O’Connell could see the Arizona senator.

But McCain was on a separate bus on his way to Columbia, and O’Connell had to settle for a bus full of campaign aides and reporters.

“When I was in high school in 1989, I had written to him, and I wanted to meet him,” the former Marine said.

Always happy to enlist another supporter, campaign aides gave the trooper a bumper sticker and asked for his phone number so McCain could meet him another time.

On different tickets

More transportation news: Bill Bradley discovered Sunday how little clout an ex-senator from New Jersey has in the Big Apple.

While Bradley appeared on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press” at Rockefeller Center, each idling vehicle in his motorcade out front was promptly slapped with a $55 parking ticket.

But the van at the front of the line went scot-free. It belonged to none other than New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who appeared on the show before Bradley.

Quote file

“I hope everyone in South Carolina understands, our SAT scores just ain’t so great.”

--A young woman in Beaufort, S.C., asking John McCain what he would do for education.

Compiled by Massie Ritsch from Times staff and wire reports