Ed Rollins

WASHINGTON -- There is an obvious irony in the fact that Edward J. Rollins has been the one to get the Republican Party in hot water once again on the race issue. Those who know him, including ourselves, know that Ed Rollins is not a racist.But if there was a campaign to discourage Democratic voting in New Jersey, as Rollins alleged, it necessarily was directed at the black community because that was where the votes were. Black voters ordinarily split 8 or 9 to 1 for Democratic candidates.

WASHINGTON -- In the beginning, the political consultants were not allowed at the head table.They were one step above TV technicians, which was not a very high step.The consultants worried about the lighting and the make-up and they cooked up jingles for the campaign commercials.But they were not considered in the same league as the campaign managers. The managers knew the county chairmen and the city bosses; they knew the people who counted and what won elections.And the campaign managers did not allow the political consultants into the strategy sessions.

ED ROLLINS, the political manager who out-strategized White House guru James Carville in the recent New Jersey gubernatorial, reminds me of the mentalist in the old movie "The 39 Steps": When asked a question, he is compelled to blurt out the dangerous truth.His need to expose the existence of what pols have long called "walking-around money" -- henceforth to be known in the annals of psychiatry as Rollins' Compulsion -- has provided the healthiest revelation in politics this year. To the victor belongs the spoiler.

Psst, buddy, wanna bid for an NFL franchise? Ed Rollins is either a mole planted by the Democratic Party, or inexplicable.

If it is true, as GOP strategist Ed Rollins boasted Tuesday, that the campaign of Republican Governor-elect Christine Todd Whitman paid black ministers in New Jersey $500,000 not to get the vote out for Democratic Gov. Jim Florio in last week's election, both the Republican Party and those who accepted its money ought be ashamed. If it is not true, Mr. Rollins owes both New Jersey's black community and Ms. Whitman an apology.Mr. Rollins, who served as political director of the Reagan White House and helped George Bush win the presidency in 1988, began backing off his claim almost as soon as it was made.

HERE'S a question for Ross Perot's supporters: If he were black, would you vote for him?If your answer is, "Why, you bet your cowboy boots I would!" then answer this: Where were you when Jesse Jackson ran for president?Stop and think for a second: Mr. Jackson personally rescued a Navy flier who'd been shot down and held captive in the Middle East.Mr. Jackson has condemned "business as usual" in Washington for a decade.He wanted to rebuild America and expand its job base.He stood for education and tax fairness.