TRAIL MIX

Occasional morsels from Campaign 2000

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Political Baggage

John McCain, who has made campaign finance reform his crusade but has taken heat for flying on donors’ jets, found out Sunday the headaches of coach class. After an abbreviated weekend at home in Phoenix, the Arizona senator arrived Sunday night in Manchester, N.H., sans luggage. Though McCain’s bag arrived Monday night, he cursed Continental Airlines earlier in the day as he campaigned in a day-old suit and clean underwear borrowed from his similarly sized New England political director, Mike Dennehy. For this fighter, it’s boxers, not briefs.

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Bar chart

Among beer drinkers at the Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery in West Des Moines, Iowa, George W. Bush has a big lead heading into next Monday’s Iowa caucuses. Those who buy a $3.25 pint of Caucus Light Ale--a smooth brew the bartender described as, like Iowa, colder than most--can toss a bottlecap into the 64 oz. mug of their favorite candidate. Bush, who has sworn off alcohol, has almost twice as many caps in his mug as runner-up Bill Bradley. Steve Forbes, Al Gore and John McCain are running close behind. Only Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, another teetotaler, doesn’t have a mug.

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Too Young to Vote

The parents of four of Iowa’s native sons and three of its daughters--the famous McCaughey septuplets--are hoping for what polls suggest would be another miracle: Gary Bauer’s election.

For a $25 contribution to his campaign, Bauer supporters can join Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey at a Des Moines hotel Thursday. For $250, they can visit the Carlisle home of the two-year-old miracle babies. The McCaugheys support Bauer’s anti-abortion, pro-family positions.

Bauer spokesman Tim Goeglein said the septuplets may make an appearance, but “that would depend on the babies’ schedules and what else is going on inside the home at the time.” *

QUOTE FILE

“This is not a press corps, this is a . . . cult.” *

--ABC News’ Ted Koppel, traveling last week with reporters who were smitten by John McCain’s constant jokes

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Compiled by Massie Ritsch, in Des Moines, from Times staff and wire reports