NOTEBOOK

By LESLIE DICKSTEIN, CHARLOTTE FALTERMAYER, JANICE M. HOROWITZ, LINA LOFARO, MICHAEL QUINN AND ALAIN L. SANDERS

WINNERS & LOSERS

THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY

[WINNERS]

PAT BUCHANAN Alaska, Louisiana and New Hampshire give him 28 delegates. He needs just 968 more

LAMAR ALEXANDER A third-place finish makes the man in plaid cocky enough to tell Dole to leave the race

FATHER COUGHLIN Pat's victory resurrects memory of Depression-era xenophobe-of-the-radio-waves

[LOSERS]

BOB DOLE For the third time, the Granite State has a stony heart for his White House hopes

STEVE MERRILL Popular Governor tried to do a Sununu, pulled out all stops for Dole-and was stopped

HALEY BARBOUR Party chair who calls G.O.P. a "big tent" fears Buchanan schism will turn it into a sideshow

THE CHIPS ARE DOWN

Four years ago, Bill Clinton got a big boost when a group of Silicon Valley's captains announced their support for him over George Bush. Now, however, cyberexecutives are considering any campaign drive for Clinton to be, well, a virtual goner. Dismissing Clinton's info-superhighway pep talks as showboating, the industry is focusing on a menu of grievances, including increased corporate taxes, burdensome accounting-reform proposals and, most of all, Clinton's failed veto of a law making it easier for companies to prevail in securities-fraud lawsuits. Silicon Valley successfully pressed for a congressional override, maintaining that its volatile stocks have been hit hard by frivolous suits. High-tech executives are cruising for a G.O.P. presidential alternative. A favorite, California Governor Pete Wilson, crashed early. THE BALLOTS HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

America is absorbed in its political primaries. But other countries with nearly a third of the world's population are also going to the polls this year. Israel faces a pivotal election that will determine the future of Middle East peace negotiations. Italy is preparing for another revolving-door contest. And Bangladesh recently concluded a violent and politically disruptive vote.

DATE/VOTERS SPAIN, March 3; 34 million

CANDIDATES Felipe Gonzalez, Socialist Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, Popular Party leader OUTLOOK After 13 years of Socialist rule, the Popular Party appears likely to lead Spain to its first rightward turn since dictator Francisco Franco's death.

[DATE/VOTERS] TAIWAN, March 23; 12 million

[CANDIDATES] Lee Teng-hui, President Lin Yang-kang, Conciliatory to China Peng Ming-min, Advocate of outright independence

[OUTLOOK] China's militant bullying of Lee, who favors a go-slow "one country, two governments" approach to reunification, may assure him victory.

[DATE/VOTERS] INDIA, Due by May; 498 million

[CANDIDATES] P.V. Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party candidate

[OUTLOOK] No clear winner may emerge; instability may jeopardize reforms that promise to make India an Asian tiger.

[DATE/VOTERS] RUSSIA, June 16; 107 million

[CANDIDATES] Boris Yeltsin, President Gennadi Zyuganov, Communist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Ultranationalist Grigori Yavlinsky, Reformist

[OUTLOOK] With Yeltsin mired in Chechnya and backpedaling on economic reforms, Zyuganov and his communists appear poised for a spectacular comeback.

[DATE/VOTERS] NICARAGUA, Oct. 20; 1.8 million

[CANDIDATES] Arnoldo Aleman, Managua ex-mayor Daniel Ortega, Former Sandinista President

[OUTLOOK] Front runner Aleman leads a right-of-center bloc into a campaign marred by an apparent attempt on his life.

LOCAL HEROES

SANDY MIKALOW, 50, VERNONIA, OREGON; Ham-Radio Operator With flood-ravaged towns cut off from outside contact and supplies desperately needed, Mikalow knew the only hope was ham radio. His home-computer search eventually produced a network of 150 area operators. Within 24 hours of their first transmissions, everything from diapers to space heaters started rolling in. "Usually you think of ham radio as just a form of communication," says Mikalow, "but in this case, it rounded up goods as well."

RICHARD EASTMAN, 50, BILLERICA, MASS.; Computer Contractor While managing a genealogy forum on CompuServe last week, Eastman sensed that one of the participants, the Rev. Kenneth Walker of Arbroath, Scotland, thought he was having a stroke. He got Walker to type his phone number, and in 15 seconds Eastman got through to police in Scotland. They reached Walker, who may have suffered an epileptic seizure. Says Eastman: "This was a simple thing, with an interesting twist since it was 3,000 miles away."

25 YEARS AGO IN TIME

FIGHTING WORDS

In the so-called Fight of the Century, Muhammad Ali took on the World Boxing Association, which nearly four years earlier had stripped him of the heavyweight title over a conviction for draft evasion: "Shrewd prefight publicity has turned the billing into...[Joe] Frazier the white man's champ v. Ali the great black hope, Frazier the quiet loner v. Ali the irrepressible loudmouth, Frazier the simple Bible-reading Baptist v. Ali the slogan-spouting Black Muslim. ...'I'm not just fightin' one man,' [Ali] preaches. 'I'm fightin' a lot of men, showin' a lot of 'em here is one man they couldn't conquer. My mission is to bring freedom to 30 million black people. ...Frazier has no cause.' " --March 8, 1971

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

STARLAND VOCAL BAND, Grammy Best New Artist of the Year, 1976

Although their hit Afternoon Delight is 20 years old, former members (and former couples) Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, and Jon Carroll and Margot Chapman remain musically active, mostly in the Washington area. Recording projects aside, Danoff croons at local cafes, Nivert composes pop songs, Carroll plays keyboard for Mary-Chapin Carpenter, and Chapman sings radio and TV jingles. The quartet, which disbanded in 1980, occasionally performs together. They were at the White House in '93 for the 25th anniversary of Georgetown University's class of '68, which included Danoff and another Bill--Clinton. And Afternoon Delight is still around. It's on exhibition as a "One-Hit Wonder" at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and on CD in two compilations, from K-Tel and Collectables. You'll hear it on the sound track of the movie version of Car 54, Where Are You? Says Danoff: "Once these things leave you, they take on their own lives." --By Leslie Dickstein, Charlotte Faltermayer, Janice M. Horowitz, Lina Lofaro, Michael Quinn and Alain L. Sanders