Looking Ahead: State of the Union address will tell much about how deeply the budget fight split the Republican Party. Will a proposed cut in the capital-gains tax be included in the address? HUD Secretary Jack Kemp, backed by Republican House leaders Newt Gingrich and Vin Weber, is pushing hard for its inclusion as, among other things, essential to spur sluggish economy . . . Republican pols are watching California, where Pete Wilson’s choice of successor in the Senate will tell much about his forthcoming administration. Being mentioned is Orange County supervisor Gaddy Vasquez, a Hispanic whose nomination could throw a spanner into Dianne Feinstein’s senatorial ambitions. Also on short list, along with a half-dozen GOP congressmen, is Condoleezza Rice, a young black Republican Stanford professor, now at National Security Council. … In Massachusetts, as feared, new Gov. William Weld is moving liberal Republicans of the Cy Spalding-Elliot Richardson mold into positions of power in the party. Moderate Leon Lombardi-a Bush-for-President booster in 1980-has replaced conservative Ray Shamie as state chairman, and in state legislature, moderate Peter Forman is replacing Steve Pierce as minority leader . . . Looking to 1992, author Tom Clancy (Clear and Present Danger, The Hunt for Red October) is consulting with GOP strategists on possible run against Sen. Barbara Mikulski in Maryland.
Problem for the Left: Zoltan Grossman, columnist for radical Guardian, puts his finger on it. The Left can’t find a good guy in the Middle East. In the old days there were Ho, Mao, Fidel, and Che, and more recently, Danny, Desmond, and Nelson, but in the Gulf, complains Grossman, “there are no progressive ‘good guys,’ no FMLN or ANC.” Khomeini, Qaddafi & Saddam won’t do . . . Still
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