■ Congressional Quarterly Monitor writes that moderate GOP Rep. “John Boehner [Ohio] says … in light of the President’s opposition, the GOP would shy away from the types of conservative social proposals that polarized the public in 1996.” Is he referring to partial-birth abortion? Welfare reform? The Defense of Marriage Act? . . . Sen. Al D’Amato (R., N.Y.) is said to believe partial-birth abortion and gun control caused GOP wipeout in Northeast; he blames House Majority Leader Dick Armey. . . . Meanwhile, N.Y. Gov. George Pataki, watched carefully by conservatives because of links with D’Amato, is getting kudos for welfare-reform plan. … In Australia, Self-Pitier-in-Chief Bill Clinton compares himself to Richard Jewell as target of baseless allegations in press. Widely respected retiring Rep. William Clinger (R., Pa.), who led committee investigating several White House scandals, plans to write a book about them by next summer. Conservative commentator Laura Ingraham takes to New York Times op-ed page to question competence of Clinger’s successor, Rep. Dan Burton (R., Ind) . . . . James Carville plans to start a group to publicize “right-wing agenda” of Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr: “No one I know has any faith in his objectivity.” Mrs. Carville, a/k/a Mary Matalin, begs to differ: “This is not an attack on Ken Starr, this is an attack on the justice system.” . . . Wall Street Journal notes that Common Cause urged House Ethics Committee Chairman Nancy Johnson (R., Conn.) to recuse herself from Gingrich investigation on grounds that she was biased in favor of Speaker, but now blasts House leaders for considering changing panel membership.
■ Media notes: Commenting on September Roper poll that found 61 per cent of Democrats thought media coverage of campaign was balanced, while 65 per cent of Republicans thought it favored the Democrats, Wall Street Journal editor Robert Bartley says, “I don’t see how editors and publishers can take much comfort in learning that one side of a debate thinks they’re fair and the other thinks they’re biased.” . . . Elizabeth Gleick writes in Time on Delaware infanticide case: “What led [the couple] to behave so inexplicably? Why didn’t they contact a confidential abortion clinic or adoption agency?” In same issue, Margaret Carlson docs damage control for abortion rights: “You don’t have to be persuaded that the difference between what Amy and Brian did and a third-trimester abortion is only time (a couple of weeks) and place (a $56-a-night motel rather than a clinic) to retreat to a dark corner of your conscience and fathom what is right.” . . . After Carl Rowan accuses Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern of being hatemongers, Washington Post media commentator Howard Kurtz notes that Rowan “marshals almost no evidence of their supposedly hateful appeals. One is left wondering whether Rowan actually has listened to these radio loudmouths.”
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