Nformed Sources

The Democrats Try to Party Like Perot

Can a political party start another political party? The Democratic Party is embarking on a new grass-roots venture that will compete with Ross Perot's populist semiparty, United We Stand America. In about a month, Democratic National Committee chairman David Wilhelm will launch the new community-based organization, and hopes the group -- which will use an 800 number -- will enlist local Democratic sympathizers and eventually have 2 million dues-paying members dedicated to promoting Clinton policies.

A Compromise on Gays in the Military?

Look for a major compromise this week on the issue of gays in the military. Sources at the Pentagon say Defense Secretary Les Aspin will bring President Clinton a proposal that will allow in-the-closet gays to serve, with some leeway for letting their orientation be known. This would be a more tolerant version of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy favored by Senator Sam Nunn. Aspin is close to persuading Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to sign on to his proposal, which would almost certainly make the policy acceptable to Nunn and the Congress.

The New Candidates for Getting Guiniered

Having botched Lani Guinier's nomination, the Clinton Administration has developed a new list of candidates to head up the Justice Department's civil rights division. Among them are Lynn Walker, director of human-rights and social-justice programs for the Ford Foundation (her plus: has skimpy, Souter- like paper trail); John Payton, the corporation counsel for the District of Columbia (his plus: is viewed as nonthreatening conciliator); john powell, American Civil Liberties Union legal director (his minus: prefers to lowercase name a la e.e. cummings); Judith Winston, Department of Education general- counsel designee (her minus: already nominated for an Administration job).