For the Record

■ Democrats gain confidence from Newt Gingrich’s suggestion that Clinton snub on Air Force One made him more eager to shut down Federal Government. White House also thinks public opinion favors it on Medicare and tax cuts, and that it can beat likely GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole. Democrats also cheered by elections in Kentucky (where they held onto governorship) and Virginia (where they held onto legislature). . . . Respected political analyst Charles Cook, echoing RNC chairman Haley Barbour, comments, “I suppose, after last November’s blow-out, even mixed results arc cause for Democrats to celebrate.” Big win later in month by Republican Mike Foster in Louisiana gubernatorial race comforts Republicans. But conservative activist Paul Weyrich writes that the “Republican revolution of Newt Gingrich & Co.” is “on life support,” worries that results will embolden liberal Republicans. . . . One such, Virginia Sen. John Warner, is facing a strong challenge from former Reagan budget director (and Citizens for a Sound Economy head) Jim Miller. Polls show Miller even with or ahead of Warner among Republicans.

■ Media bias? What media bias? Says NBC reporter Lisa Meyers, “There is a bias in favor of spending money, but I don’t think it’s liberal vs. conservative, but a bias in favor of government programs and spending money to try to solve problems. And it’s compassionate to spend money, even if there is not money there to spend and even if you’re heaping debt on the next generation.” On CNBC, Newsweek’s Howard Fineman explains that most D.C. reporters are “sane centrists” whom Colin Powell reminded why “they got into politics—journalism, to begin with,” adds that “a lot of my colleagues are trying to accept the fact that the Republican Party has the upper hand, and they want a Republican Party they can live with.” . . . Liberal campaign against medical savings accounts, led by New York Times editorialists, continues. L.A. Times Washington Bureau Chief Doyle McManus asks, “Why haven’t we heard about this before? Where did this Medical Savings Account come from?” L. Brent Bozell Ill’s Media Research Center—the source for all the quotes in this paragraph—runs these questions under the header, “From the conservatives you’ve ignored.”

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■ Democrats gain confidence from Newt Gingrich’s suggestion that Clinton snub on Air Force One made him more eager to shut down Federal Government. White House also thinks public opinion favors it on Medicare and tax cuts, and that it can beat likely GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole. Democrats also cheered by elections in Kentucky (where they held onto governorship) and Virginia (where they held onto legislature). . . . Respected political analyst Charles Cook, echoing RNC chairman Haley Barbour, comments, “I suppose, after last November’s blow-out, even mixed results arc cause for Democrats to celebrate.” Big win later in month by Republican Mike Foster in Louisiana gubernatorial race comforts Republicans. But conservative activist Paul Weyrich writes that the “Republican revolution of Newt Gingrich & Co.” is “on life support,” worries that results will embolden liberal Republicans. . . . One such, Virginia Sen. John Warner, is facing a strong challenge from former Reagan budget director (and Citizens for a Sound Economy head) Jim Miller. Polls show Miller even with or ahead of Warner among Republicans.

■ Media bias? What media bias? Says NBC reporter Lisa Meyers, “There is a bias in favor of spending money, but I don’t think it’s liberal vs. conservative, but a bias in favor of government programs and spending money to try to solve problems. And it’s compassionate to spend money, even if there is not money there to spend and even if you’re heaping debt on the next generation.” On CNBC, Newsweek’s Howard Fineman explains that most D.C. reporters are “sane centrists” whom Colin Powell reminded why “they got into politics—journalism, to begin with,” adds that “a lot of my colleagues are trying to accept the fact that the Republican Party has the upper hand, and they want a Republican Party they can live with.” . . . Liberal campaign against medical savings accounts, led by New York Times editorialists, continues. L.A. Times Washington Bureau Chief Doyle McManus asks, “Why haven’t we heard about this before? Where did this Medical Savings Account come from?” L. Brent Bozell Ill’s Media Research Center—the source for all the quotes in this paragraph—runs these questions under the header, “From the conservatives you’ve ignored.”