The week's big loser may be the much-vaunted Hillary Clinton/Rudy Giuliani race. A New York poll this week found Giuliani leading Hillary Clinton by 12 points among adults, and the Mayor ahead by 7 points among women. The survey will fuel the growing speculation about whether or not Hillary will actually run next year. The stories about her latest misstep — when she sat like a potted plant while the lovely Mrs. Arafat accused the Israelis of poisoning Arabs--provide a preview of how she could make her exit from the race.

The coverage has avoided the obvious conclusion that Hillary is a disastrously inept candidate, instead attributing her continual problems to the difficulty she faces balancing the demands of being First Lady with running for office. When she pulls out of the race next year, expect her to explain that she tried to juggle her responsibilities, but found she couldn't without sacrificing her White House duties. Therefore, she is sacrificing her own political ambitions in New York to fulfill her responsibilities to the country.

No one will believe her, but since when has that stopped a Clinton from insulting our intelligence? Some Republicans fear that if Hillary pulls up lame, Rudy will also exit the race because he is more interested in running against her than in serving in the Senate.

Meanwhile, although Al Gore has stopped his slide in the polls, he wasn't helped this week by a number of deals made by his Alpha competitor. The unions are furious over the Administration's agreement to permit China's membership in the WTO. The feminists are fuming over the Administration's compromise on paying UN dues that inhibits international family planning groups from promoting abortion. And environmentalists oppose some GOP riders on the Interior Department funding bill. None of this helps a Vice President who should be in full pander mode warding off Bill Bradley, but instead is the Beta male stuck with his boss's deals.