NOTEBOOK
WINNERS & LOSERS
LOVE AND OTHER POLITICAL INTERESTS
[WINNERS]
PHYLLIS MACEY Dole's first wife finally tells her side of the divorce: she didn't want it; it was speeded up
SARAH ("FERGIE") FERGUSON The gay divorce proves she can be happy and civil in public with her ex--beat that, Di!
JACKIE KENNEDY ONASSIS She died in 1994, but bios of her still rivet us with accounts of her premarital sex life
[& LOSERS]
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON Blasts smear ads, only to be reminded of her part in hubby's mudslinging 1994 Senate run
HILLARY CLINTON Depositions from two close friends suggest her role in Travelgate was larger than she admits
KITTY DUKAKIS Drug free but drowsy at the wheel, she crashes into a guardrail, injuring herself and Mike
CONVENTION '96/GUIDE
An insider's look at what the delegates are up to during this week at the big Republican shindig in San Diego
The Goods on the G.O.P.
Each delegate gets his or her own "goody bag," assembled by the host committee. The bags include a number of special convention-edition products, ranging from macaroni and cheese with elephant- and star-shaped macaroni from Philip Morris to Hefty storage bags from Tenneco to a "roll back the beer tax" mug from Anheuser-Busch. Also included are raisins by Dole Food, baseball caps from Warner Bros. and MSNBC, and a copy of the new book by G.O.P. chairman Haley Barbour--and all in a red-white-and-blue tote bag.
CONVENTION COMFORTS
Where they are staying
1. CHRISTIAN COALITION: Somerset Suites Hotel; Hillcrest. In the heart of San Diego's premier gay neighborhood. Price: $90-$180.
2. NEW YORK DELEGATION: Hotel del Coronado; Coronado island. One of the finest hotels in the country. Price: $169-$500.
3. KENTUCKY DELEGATION: Doubletree Carmel Highland; Rancho Penasquitos. A 30-minute drive to the convention. Price: $69-$99.
4. MISSISSIPPI and WISCONSIN DELEGATIONS: Hyatt Regency; downtown. Prime position. Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour is from Mississippi, and the chairman of the arrangements committee, Michael Grebe, is from Wisconsin. Price:$179-$214.
5. LOUISIANA DELEGATION: Best Western Seven Seas Lodge; Hotel Circle. View of freeway. Price $79.
6. KANSAS DELEGATION: U.S. Grant Hotel; downtown. Built by U.S. Grant Jr. in 1910 in honor of his father. Price: $165-$185.
PUNDITS: RATHER, NOT
The Republicans are doing their best to make the convention must-see TV, but cable networks and multimedia outlets aren't depending on them. Some alternative political commentators on assignment:
BILL MAHER AND CHRIS ROCK FOR COMEDY CENTRAL "We're not looking for scoops--we're looking for the best joke," says a Comedy Central publicist. Maher is doing a one-hour Politically Incorrect and anchors InDecision '96, while Rock is providing live reports from such places as Charlton Heston's party and the Mexican border.
CHUCK D FOR MTV Tabitha Soren and crew anchor MTV's youth-oriented coverage, but rapper Chuck D from Public Enemy is a roving reporter for a day, talking to protesters outside and delegates inside. On Tuesday Art Alexakis from the heavy-metal band Everclear tapes a piece on Republican youth-outreach efforts.
ELEANOR MONDALE FOR E! NEWS DAILY Since her father was once Vice President and once ran for President, Mondale may be more familiar with the process than many of the delegates. But she is focusing on Hollywood's obsession with politicians and celebrity endorsements, fund raising and activism.
PAULA POUNDSTONE FOR MOTHER JONES Comedian Poundstone has covered conventions before. She's on site Tuesday but is also offering viewers a couch-potato perspective for Mother Jones' Website. She has already made several predictions, including this one: "The platform will contain an unusually large section on yachters' rights."
VOX POP
Do you think life has ever existed on Mars?
Yes No
Democrats 35% 43% Republicans 37% 49% Independents 43% 40%
From a telephone poll of 558 adult Americans taken for TIME/CNN on August 8 by Yankelovich Partners, Inc. Sampling error is plus or minus 4.3%. "Not sures" omitted.
TRAGIC HEROES
The long drawn-out investigation of Atlanta suspect Richard Jewell has led many Americans to ruminate over the plight of heroes undone by the consequences of fame. Two previous examples:
Oliver Sipple The Vietnam veteran saved Gerald Ford's life in 1975 by deflecting the arm of Sara Jane Moore as she aimed a .38 revolver at the President. In the ensuing media rush, reporters revealed that Sipple was gay. That news resulted in his ostracism from his family. Sipple filed a $15 million suit against seven major newspapers but lost. He died alone of natural causes in 1989, in a dingy San Francisco apartment.
Robert O'Donnell In 1987 the Midland, Texas, paramedic wriggled down a shaft to rescue 18-month-old Jessica McClure from an abandoned well. Fleeting acclaim made him yearn for the limelight; he even pondered traveling to Oklahoma City to help out after the bombing there. But new fame eluded him, and he found himself with a failed marriage, a lost career and crippling migraines. Last year he killed himself with a gunshot to the head. One of three notes he left read, "No help from nobody but family."
20 YEARS AGO IN TIME
Mr. Excitement
"Ford's selection of Kansas Senator Robert Dole as his running mate also appeased the conservatives...Some suspected that the Reaganites had all but forced the President to choose Dole--or someone else from the right. Actually, Ford had his own reasons for picking the Kansan. [Said] U.N. Ambassador William Scranton: 'He is an excellent campaigner of the type we need. The President is not the attacker type, but Bob can do that kind of campaigning.'...Cracks Minnesota Republican Chairman Chuck Slocum: 'We've got righteous Jimmy [Carter], dull Walter [Mondale] and stuffy Jerry. Bob Dole will add some zip to the campaign and prevent it from being dull.'"--Aug. 30, 1976
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
RAY WALSTON, SEVENTYISH, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA; Actor For a generation of Americans, Martians weren't little green men--they looked like Walston, who starred with the late Bill Bixby in the 1963-66 TV series My Favorite Martian. A Broadway veteran (he won a Tony for playing the Devil in Damn Yankees), he took the extraterrestrial role of Bixby's Uncle Martin expecting the show to be a serious look at parallel worlds, a proto-Star Trek, and was upset by its evolution into what he calls "a silly sitcom." Since then he has appeared in plays, films and other TV series, most recently as the ethical Judge Henry Bone in the acclaimed (and just canceled) Picket Fences. He remains puzzled by television, however. Says Walston: "Good, thought-provoking shows come along, attacking social issues, and yet the major part of the audiences don't want to think--they want to be amused and entertained."