NYC 227
Ron K. Unz is dead serious about taking Proposition 227 to New York City. Following the success of his ballot initiative to end bilingual education in California last year, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur — who once lived in the Queens neighborhood of Jackson Heights — is preparing an effort to amend the city charter. Because so much of the city's education policy is determined in Albany, however, Unz cannot transform bilingual education the way he did in California. Yet he can make sure this highly contentious issue is placed on the November 2000 ballot, just in time for the anticipated Senate showdown between Mayor Rudy Giuliani and First Lady Hillary Clinton. "It really isn't that hard to qualify for the ballot," Unz told NR on Friday, grinning the whole time.

Forget the "listening tours" and the politics of dairy compacts: Bilingual education may become one of the most important issues in the race.

BEWITCHED
Warren Beatty recently told a friend, reports The Nation, that if he runs for president "his campaign could be the Blair Witch Project of American politics." Is Beatty referring to the astonishing commercial success of that low-budget horror movie — or does he mean his campaign will induce nausea in many viewers?

UH-OH
During a three-hour interview, C-SPAN's Brian Lamb asked Newt Gingrich whether he would run for office again. The answer: "I always tell people I'm the same age Ronald Reagan was when he became governor of California."