THE FIRST TEST
Speaking-in-Waiting Bob Livingston will face his first true leadership test over the issue of censuring President Clinton. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde has agreed to permit a vote in committee on a Democrat-sponsored censure alternative to impeachment. Republicans will vote it down in committee, but that may not dispose of the matter.

Democrats are already chirping about Hyde's fairness in allowing a vote on censure. They will portray Livingston as unfair by comparison if he prevents a censure option from coming to the floor. Livingston has a ready defense: If the Judiciary Committee concludes that censure is unconstitutional, then he is under no obligation to schedule a floor vote on it. But Democrats will rail at him anyway, and conservatives will see what kind of stuff Speaker Livingston is made of.

THE ANTI-CONSERVATIVES
New York Republicans who also run on the state's Conservative Party ticket may want to read an announcement Thursday from Chairman Michael Long: "Given the evidence, there is no doubt that the Congress should bring the President to trial. Not to do so is wrong."

Four GOPers who receive the Conservative Party's nomination have not announced whether they will vote for impeachment: Michael Forbes, Rick Lazio, John McHugh, and James Walsh. Three others already have sided with President Clinton: Amo Houghton, Peter King, and Jack Quinn.

If Rep. Forbes doesn't vote with the Conservative Party on this one, he may not belong to any party soon: Campaign fundraising reports recently revealed that he donated $1,000 to two Democrats shortly before their re-election in November, Rep. Bill Pascrell (N.J.) and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (Calif.). The National Republican Congressional Committee spent about $100,000 in each race.

HISTORIANS' CAUCUS
A group of 96 distinguished scholars and legal experts have offered a strong statement in favor of impeaching President Clinton: "There is no doubt that the felonies and malfeasances of which the President stands accused, and which have in major part already been proved, constitute impeachable offenses. It is essential that the impeachment inquiry go forward and, if the record stands as it does now, that a bill of impeachment be voted by the House of Representatives." [Click here to view complete text of letter.] This is a welcome counterbalance to the ridiculous statement published by liberal college professors in defense of Clinton shortly before the election.

LEANING TOWARD STATEHOOD
A plurality of Puerto Ricans registered to vote in Sunday's plebiscite favor statehood, according to a poll in the San Juan Star. In the survey, statehood had 49 per cent support, compared to 45 per cent favoring a "none of the above" option (a de facto vote for continued commonwealth status) and less than 3 per cent for independence.