INDECISION TIME
Newspapers are printing lists of House members who are "undecided" about impeachment. The truth is, many of these politicians already have made up their minds about how to vote. Many Republicans are simply abiding by Henry Hyde's request - made in personal letters sent by overnight mail to the homes of GOPers last week - not to declare their intentions until the Judiciary Committee finishes its work and they have had time to review its recommendations. The other incentive is entirely media-driven: The folks who said they don't know how they're going to vote on Thursday were in high demand on the weekend TV shows. They continue to have round-the-clock access to CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. They have nothing interesting to say, but at least they're boosting their name I.D.

DELAY TACTICS
Does the White House have a secret plan to delay this Thursday's impeachment vote? Republicans who favor impeachment believe time is on the Democrats' side. But with a solid commitment to cast ballots on Thursday, can the White House concoct a strategy to buy more of it? One thing the Clinton team has done well ever since the Lewinsky scandal broke is to put off reckoning day for as long as possible. To win more time, Clinton would have to announce upon his return from Israel on Wednesday that he wants to speak directly to Congress--next Monday or Tuesday. That's a high risk move - after all, Clinton has had a standing invitation for months - but GOP leaders would be wise to have a response ready.

BAD PR FOR STATEHOOD
The drive for Puerto Rican statehood suffered a major setback on Sunday when a majority of the island's voters, in an election that saw more than 70 per cent turnout, rejected a proposal to pursue formal membership in the Union. Only 46.5 per cent favored statehood, versus 50.2 per cent who supported a "none of the above" option that rejected choices ranging from statehood to independence. Statehood's supporters improbably declared victory on the fraudulent grounds that "none of the above" wasn't a valid choice. Reporters covering the election, however, haven't been taken in.

That doesn't mean Congress won't be. Rep. Dan Burton (R., Ind.) said in a press release that "99 per cent of the American people in Puerto Rico voted against the current commonwealth status." That's sort of like saying the San Diego Padres won 100 per cent of the World Series games in which the New York Yankees didn't beat them.

The Puerto Rican government may yet file for statehood, ignoring the wishes of its own electorate. The pro-statehood party controls the legislature and the governorship; it may approve a petition for statehood next year. The fight in Washington probably isn't over.

But there are no two ways about this vote: most Puerto Ricans don't want their island to become one of the United States. Absent the huge popular majorities for statehood seen in Alaska and Hawaii before their admission, politicians shouldn't make them.