Washington Whispers

ILLUSTRATION BY ED WEXLER FOR USN&WR

What a difference a new century makes in presidential politics. Nearly 16 years ago, candidate Bill Clinton's offer of a two-for-one deal that included his wife, Hillary, fell with a thud. Now, at least among Democrats wowed by the front-running spouses, it's simply a given. Just don't say it.

"The trend reveals the shift in the American family from the male-dominated wage-earner/homemaker model to differing models that reflect two wage earners," says pollster John Zogby. "As long as a candidate doesn't say 'two for the price of one,' Americans deep down know they are getting just that, a whole family."

"This year," says Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, "the spouses make news. The spouses make noise and draw huge crowds." Certainly this is so for the Democratic trio of Bill Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Elizabeth Edwards. Each has different roles, but all are providing a mix of policy talk with touching family stories. While voters sneered at Bill Clinton's twofer deal, they now seem to expect that spouses will handle more than interior decorating, though not the cabinet advisory role Rudy Giuliani suggested for his wife—and got whacked for. Still, says Brazile, "these spouses seem just as capable of winning public office as their spouses are."

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Its members have protested at Kentucky Fried Chicken stores and even burned Col. Harland Sanders in effigy. But now People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is going to the grave to target KFC—actually, Colonel Sanders's resting place, Louisville's Cave Hill Cemetery. Matt Prescott, PETA's anti-KFC boss, has just put up his tombstone three sections from the Colonel. On it is a 16-line acrostic poem, with letters down the left side reading, "KFC tortures birds." Cemetery Superintendent Lee Squires isn't amused and promises to remove the tombstone. "KFC wouldn't appreciate it," he tells us. "That's politically incorrect and basically inflammatory."

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Sen. John McCain has been promising that he'll nab Osama bin Laden if elected president. So we have a bit of warning for McCain from the National Counterterrorism Center should the Republican come face to face with the world's most wanted man. Bin Laden, says the center's flashy desk calendar, "should be considered armed and dangerous." Need more? He's left-handed, olive-skinned, stands between 6 foot 4 and 6 foot 6, weighs 160 pounds, and walks with a cane, says the terrorist- packed calendar, available at www.nctc.gov. "As Joe Friday once said," says Carl Kropf, an NCTC spokesman, "just the facts, sir."

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It was a scary story out of Iowa when the wires reported that Mike Huckabee's son and some friends were in a car wreck while returning home to Arkansas after the caucus the Republican presidential hopeful won. But what went unreported was what happened to Huck's three dogs, who had traveled on his campaign bus in Iowa. Well, we've got word that they are OK, too. The littlest, Toby, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was thrown from his kennel and wandered off after the wreck, but somebody picked him up. Two others, Huck's hunting Lab, Jet, and his wife's Shih Tzu, Sonic, were tossed around but not hurt badly. Yes, Sonic is named for the hamburger joint. Says Huckabee of his dogs, now heading to South Caro-lina to campaign: "They really keep Janet and me mellowed out. It was killing us not to have them with us" in New Hampshire.

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