HITTING HILLARY HARDER

Despite an agreement (steadily unraveling) to call off issue groups supporting him in the New York Senate race, Rick Lazio's loyal band of Hillary-haters is on the march. Witness the urgent e-mail just dispatched by the Conservative Leadership PAC to the faithful. Sounding a note of alarm, if not panic, the PAC warns that Hillary is leading by 9 points in the polls. That's because "the establishment media have protected Bill and Hillary Clinton from the worst of their CRIMES, CORRUPTION and COVER-UPS" (their caps). Also, candidate Lazio has been soft on Hillary. He can't fulminate about the aforesaid "crimes" lest that same "establishment media" denounce him for running a negative campaign. The conservative PAC will do it for him. Its long list of Hillary's crimes includes Whitewater, threatening grand jury witnesses, calling on the IRS to harass her critics, "the use of Air Force planes to wage her Senate Campaign" and serving on the board of the Children's Defense Fund. The PAC promises to raise $6 million in stop-Hillary money.

READERSHIP SURVEY

Making the rounds on e-mail these days is an "analysis" of the typical readers of newspapers: "The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country. The New York Times is read by people who think they run the country. The Washington Post is read by people who think they ought to run the country. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't understand the Washington Post. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country if they could spare the time. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country as long as they do something scandalous." Here's Fred Siegel's emendation: "The New York Post is read by people who are sure that a liberal conspiracy is running the country." And our addition: "The National Enquirer is read by people who believe space aliens are running the country." Any others?

BULLISH ON BUSH

An investors' newsletter, Oil & Energy Investment Report, predicts a Bush victory in the presidential race and says now's a great time to stock up on oil service stocks. Here's why: "The secret to profiting from the Bush-Cheney ticket is simple: follow the trail of money from the big, politically well-connected oil companies that the new administration will owe favors to." The O&E Investment Report goes on to say, "Like his famous father before him, [George W.'s] political career has been molded, crafted, and sponsored every step of the way...by Big Oil." (This sounds like a Ralph Nader speech.) The newsletter provides a list of contributions to Bush from the oil and gas companies, which he owes big time. And the payback? On the pretext of reducing US dependence on foreign oil, W. will decimate environmental regulations, dole out big tax breaks for oil and gas exploration and open up protected areas. So buy into Bush and make your fortune!

NEWS OF THE WEAK IN REVIEW

Asked by Howard Kurtz whether CBS's news coverage of Survivor crossed the line between news and entertainment, Steve Friedman, producer of The Early Show, replied, "That line is long gone.... to compete you've got to compete. And we are in this to win. And we will use this show to help us win."

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