Bob Dole

WASHINGTON -- Robert E. Lighthizer often stands at the window of his 11th-floor New York Avenue office with binoculars, peering down at President Clinton practicing chip shots on the South Lawn of the White House.This surveillance is really just a hobby for Lighthizer, who shares Clinton's passion for golf. But considering the intimacy of Lighthizer's relationship with Republican presidential challenger Bob Dole, the Democrats might well regard it as opposition research.Top policy adviser, leading fund-raiser, campaign treasurer, and all-around trouble-shooter, Lighthizer is a big star in a small constellation of sometime staffers and long-time friends who make Dole's inner circle.

WASHINGTON -- Bob Dole tapped his forehead with his left index finger to identify the mastermind of his 96-hour "campaignathon" -- and of all the other imaginative tactics that marked his race for the White House.But, as Dole acknowledged aboard his campaign plane in the wee hours Saturday, those tactics earned him only slight and fleeting gains in opinion polls. They were no substitute for a well-crafted strategy that insiders say should have been unfolding by April, when the campaign instead went silent for weeks.

WASHINGTON -- If there was one Republican senator who took the news of Bob Dole's departure a bit more dry-eyed than the rest, it was the majority leader's chief deputy, Trent Lott.The tall, handsome Mississippian, who blends courtly manners with a hard-edged political style, has quickly become the man to beat in a contest for Dole's leadership post that may well determine the tone and work habits of the Senate for years to come. Cooperate with a Democratic president? Make life hard for him?

President-elect Clinton would have us believe that the newest deficit projections, released by the Bush administration on its way out the door, make it impossible for him to fulfill his pledge to slice the monster in half during his first term.Just last summer Mr. Bush and company were projecting a deficit of (merely) $193 billion in 1996, and shrinking thereafter. Now they say it's more like $266 billion in '96 and $300 billion-plus forevermore. Surprise. And have a nice administration.Republicans charge that Mr. Clinton's shock is disingenuous.

Russell, Kansas -- IN LARGE, faded blue letters, the grain elevator in the center of Russell proclaims this to be the hometown of Sen. Bob Dole, and there's no doubt about that. Bob Dole's two sisters still live here. An engine at the volunteer fire department is named for the senator's father, Doran, and for many years the "Dole Building" on Main Street housed the oil-leasing business run by his late brother, Kenny. Across the street is the yellow sandstone courthouse where Bob served eight years as county attorney.

Jesse Helms is the bad cop, Bob Dole the good cop.NATO bombed that air base in Croatia as if it really meant for the Serbs to quit napalming civilians, and the Serbs don't know what to make of it.Massive police raids on open air drug markets are a good thing unless you live where the drug markets move next.

Sen. Bob Dole was quoted in Roger Simon's column in yesterday's early editions of The Sun as telling Hollywood, "You have sold your souls." The remark appeared in the advance text of Mr. Dole's speech, but he did not utter it.

Some trusted adviser better tell Bill the honeymoon ends Jan. 20.Serbs murder a Bosnian while he is under U.N. armed protection; Iraqis cross into Kuwait and seize weapons from U.N. troops: What is wrong with this picture?Bob Dole is trying to take over the Republican Party. Somebody ought to.Several outgoing Bushies are going to set up Washington think tanks on the theory that Washington does not have enough.

DON'T name them the Crows, Buzzards, Rockfish, Old Bays, Middies, Raccoons, Ponies, Bawlamorons, Bangles, A-rabbers, Sea Nettles, Sons of the Colts, Readers or even the Marble Steps.The world is a safer place. Taiwan recognizes China.The city that reads has no need for libraries.And the Oscar for long-distance running to Bob Dole!Pub Date: 3/27/96

In a May 4 article in the Perspective section on political lobbying by the broadcast industry, a quote from Reed Hundt, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, was incorrectly attributed to Bob Dole. Hundt called the government's distribution of the new digital broadcast spectrum "the biggest single gift of public property to any industry in this century."Pub Date: 5/13/97The Sun regrets the errors.