National Campaign

If former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hoped she could segue quietly into private life as she pondered a presidential bid in 2016, that fantasy has been abruptly harpooned in the resurrection of the political squabble over the terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's hearing into the failure of the Clinton-led State Department to respond in a timely fashion has made clear that the issue will haunt her and any political aspirations she may have between now and the next presidential election.

The Catholic Church, embroiled in a dispute with the Obama administration over new health insurance rules, has chosen Baltimore to kick off a national campaign it says is aimed at promoting religious liberty. Archbishop William E. Lori is scheduled to celebrate mass at the Baltimore Basilica on June 21 to open the "Fortnight for Freedom," a two-week national campaign of special liturgies, prayer services and other events leading up to the Fourth of July. The Archdiocese of Baltimore is the oldest Catholic diocese in the United States.

WASHINGTON -- As voters continue to demonstrate their disdain for the tone of political campaigns by staying away from the polls in droves, the debate goes on within the political community about who's to blame.Alex Castellanos, a Republican consultant involved in the Bob Dole campaign in 1996, told CNN recently that "coverage of politics has been very cynical" and that the news media is "the most negative institution in American politics today."He is not alone in that view. A recent survey of 196 professional political consultants active in national campaigns in the last three election cycles provided this not too surprising answer about whose fault it is that politics is held in such low regard: Don't look at us.The poll of 200 consultants, slightly more Democrats thanRepublicans, by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, pointed a collective finger instead at the news media, the voters themselves and, in some cases, at the candidates.

Fax machines, copiers and typewriters -- no matter what the brand -- have one thing in common. They break down.It's on that premise that Baltimore's Eisner & Associates has designed a $4.5 million advertising campaign for Minolta Corp. business equipment dealers nationwide.The contract will give almost an 8 percent boost to Eisner's annual billings of $57 million and could attract increased national attention to the agency's work.The humorous campaign paints the Minolta dealer as a hero, saving its clients more quickly and efficiently than "the other guys" from what can be inconvenient, and sometimes costly, breakdowns in business machines.

The governor of Indiana is putting his money on the yellow poplar. Retirees in Lincoln, Neb., are rallying around the Eastern Cottonwood. An Ohioan is promoting the Buckeye. There's even a write-in campaign for the Giant Sequoia. But the results of the National Arbor Day Foundation's campaign to select a "national tree" won't be unveiled until April 27 at a ceremony in Washington celebrating National Arbor Day. It's a "people's choice" kind of poll through which, if the foundation has its way, a tree will join the roster of America's national symbols - the rose, the bald eagle and In God We Trust.

For all you complaining about the less-than-stellar season six premiere, feast your eyes on the scintillating second episode. “The Collaborators” delves into themes of desire, putting on a good face for show and the sin rooted deep in Don's history: prostitution. The death and suicide images are still there, but toned down a bit from last week's one-and-a-half deaths. That's always a plus. Don runs into the good -- but not good enough for his wife -- doctor in the elevator before slipping away to sleep with said wife.

When it comes to teens having babies, it's a matter of pay me now or pay me later. You can pay for the programs that help teens understand sex and make good decisions about it, and you can pay for the health care services that provide them with options for contraception. Or you can pay for the misfortunes that are more likely to befall the child of a teen mother: health problems, behavioral and educational issues, and a greater likelihood of criminal troubles in adolescence and young adulthood.

DENVER -- The first big winter storm of the season blew across the Rocky Mountains late last week, delighting dozens of ski resort owners who had waited with fingers crossed through an unusually warm and dry November that left most of their trails barren of natural snow.But, as thousands of skiers and snowboarders descended on Western slopes to take advantage of a dozen inches of fresh snow, they were greeted by elements of a new national campaign urging them to act responsibly on the slopes and, in some cases, penalizing them if they do not.Among the more aggressive efforts, members of the National Ski Patrol at Vail Mountain in Colorado and a new safety unit known as the Yellow Jackets have taken passes away from more than 60 skiers and snowboarders who were moving too fast.

NEW ORLEANS -- Louisiana Republicans will kick off the 1996 quest for national convention delegates today in party caucuses around the state, with Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas facing only two active competitors -- but high expectations.Of the Republican field of nine candidates, only commentator Patrick J. Buchanan and Alan L. Keyes, the former Maryland senatorial nominee, are running delegate slates in the seven congressional districts.The six other candidates are boycotting the voting at the urging of the Iowa Republican Party, which is miffed that Louisiana "stole" its traditional first-in-the-nation caucuses.

John White, a 31-year-old safety director for an ironwork company, took yesterday morning off from work to go back to school - elementary school. "It's my daughter's first day. I thought it was important that I be here," said White, who was peering through the doorway of his 6-year-old's first-grade class at Deep Run Elementary School in Elkridge. About 400 other parents at the school had the same idea, taking time from work to join their children in the First Day of School America campaign, which had its debut in Howard County yesterday at Deep Run as 14 districts in the state started the first phase of the back-to-school wave, which ends when city schools return Sept.