■ The day after California, New Jersey, and Ohio primaries, the headlines gave Ross Perot equal billing with George Bush, Bill Clinton. Media had been buzzing about possible Perot running-mates, with Jeane Kirkpatrick, Vietnam War hero Adm. James Stockdale, and even Frank Perdue among those mentioned. … If Perot makes it as a true third candidate, the choice would be almost certainly forced into the House: the next House, the one elected in November—giving added spice to races already made interesting by redistricting and by fallout from House banking scandal. In reconfigured Illinois 16th CD, conservative lawyer Don Muzzullo is given a good chance to bounce liberal incumbent John Cox. … In Texas 12th CD (home to Ross Perot’s airport), Republican David Hobbs, who runs Rep. Dick Armey’s Institute for Policy Innovation, hopes to dethrone Jim Wright’s successor, Pete Geren. . . . All four House Democratic leaders are watching their backs. Some ten challengers (in both parties) are vying to take on Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (Mo.), who had a low victory margin in his 1990 re-election. . . . Speaker Tom Foley (Wash.), floundering on Capitol Hill, will face State Rep. Dwayne Sommers, a solid conservative. … In Prince George’s County, Maryland, young Republican Larry Hogan Jr. is out to topple liberal Democratic Caucus chairman Steny Hoyer in a redrawn district. Hogan is assaulting Hoyer’s checkbouncing record (Hoyer’s daughter, incidentally, was employed at House Bank), as well as promoting a broad anti-tax platform. . . . Democratic Whip David Bonior (Mich.) faces rematch with State Sen. Doug Carl, who almost beat him in 1988.
■ It was L.A. riots that gave Perot his biggest boost in the media. According to Media Monitor, TV networks ran 14 Perot stories in the month before the riots, 34 in the three weeks after the riots. In contrast, Bill Clinton got 28 stories in the three weeks after the riots, George Bush 39. . . . Riots made a Greek chorus of Pat Buchanan. Instead of more social programs, he said, “what we need is reconversion of the American people.” The rioters “came out of schools where God, the Ten Commandments, and moral instruction have been expelled, and sex education, values clarification, and condoms have been put in.” . . . Rep. Clyde Holloway (R., La.) hotly opposes the District of Columbia City Council’s sexual initiatives: a plan to distribute condoms to children of disapproving parents, and a “domesticpartners law,” which mandates that homosexual and unmarried heterosexual lovers will get the same healthcare benefits as married couples. Holloway warns that a society “ignores the value system” only at “staggering cost.” . . . Sen. Charles Robb (D., Va.) is being investigated by federal grand jury on charges of wiretapping Democratic Party rival, Gov. Douglas Wilder. Three Robb aides have already pleaded guilty. Senatorial courtesy: John Warner (R., Va.) derailed attempt at Virginia GOP convention to pass a resolution demanding Robb’s resignation. . . . Delegates were gathering in Rio for the Earth Summit just as an astounding scandal broke around Brazilian President Fernando Collor, which featured accusations of corruption, extortion, and cocaine abuse made by his own brother in a videotaped interview with a leading news magazine, Veja.
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