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- GRAPEVINE, Page 15
-
-
- By JANICE CASTRO
-
- Make Mine State
-
- As he basks in the glow of a wildly successful Democratic
- convention, party chairman RON BROWN is contemplating what to
- do when his four-year term expires later this year. Friends say
- he's hoping for a Cabinet post in a Clinton Administration. But
- which one? A source close to both Brown and Clinton maintains
- that Brown wants to start at the top, as Secretary of State,
- though that might be aiming a bit high. Among his possible
- successors at the D.N.C.: Tony Coelho, the former House whip who
- resigned from Congress in 1989 amid questions regarding his use
- of campaign funds, has reportedly been hinting around about the
- job for months.
-
- Here Comes the Stealth Manuscript
-
- Booksellers are grinding their teeth over several big Ross
- Perot books that have been canceled on the eve of publication.
- But something bigger may be coming soon. PUTNAM is preparing to
- ship more than 100,000 copies of a supersecret book in late
- August. The publisher is keeping both the subject and author
- completely confidential. According to buyers for the major
- chains, Putnam executives have been whispering that it is a
- biography of a major Washington official that contains
- information so explosive it could cause his or her resignation.
- This has prompted a guessing game within the industry, but
- Putnam executives say only, "No comment."
-
- Border? What Border?
-
- When the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meets this
- week in Manila, VIETNAM will be pleading for support in
- resisting growing Chinese aggression. Just eight months ago,
- China and Vietnam normalized relations. Their border was opened.
- Trade blossomed. Assistance flowed from Beijing. But last month
- Chinese warships sailed into the South China Sea to renew
- China's claim to the Spratly Islands, which Vietnam counts as
- its own. Ignoring Vietnam's complaints, China has sold oil and
- gas exploration rights in the area to a Denver firm. Meanwhile,
- Chinese troops have moved border markers deeper into Vietnam,
- and many Chinese visitors seem determined to stay. To Vietnam,
- what looked like detente is beginning to feel more and more like
- subservience.
-
- Look for the Union Label
-
- Washington warmly welcomed new Israeli Prime Minister
- YITZHAK RABIN's decision last week to call a temporary halt to
- new settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But a major
- sticking point in U.S.-Israeli relations remains. The White
- House wants to sell 72 F-15 Eagle bombers to Saudi Arabia.
- Israel strongly opposes the sale, but McDonnell Douglas and its
- suppliers have been pressing Bush to let the sale go through.
- Last week the powerful 800,000-member International Association
- of Machinists and Aerospace Workers added to the election-year
- pressure on Bush, insisting that if the $5 billion sale is
- killed, nearly 40,000 aerospace jobs will be lost. Already
- facing major losses as defense spending is reduced, the
- aerospace workers are pressing Bush to save them "from the human
- scrap heap."
-
- Cheating the Big One
-
- After last month's big quakes, Los Angeles wine
- connoisseur Dennis Overstreet realized that the next one might
- demolish his cellars. Party! Two dozen friends helped him
- consume a six-liter 1982 Chateau Petrus (value: $9,000). Says
- he: "And we didn't have to drink it from a sponge."
-
- SCORECARD
-
- Now that Perot has punted, here's the morning line:
-
-
- WINNERS:
-
- -- The Mexican stock market, which rebounded, no longer
- fearing his opposition to a U.S.-Mexico free-trade pact
-
- -- Ed Rollins, for getting out just in time
-
- -- All the pundits who said he'd fizzle
-
- -- Perot's bank balance and government contracts
-
- -- Ron Brown, credited with the strong Democratic
- Convention that helped persuade Perot to withdraw
-
- -- Business as usual
-
-
- LOSERS:
-
- -- Millions of loyal Perot volunteers
-
- -- Larry King, favorite of the hottest candidate
-
- -- Ham Jordan, left holding the bag
-
- -- Dana Carvey, who won a sitcom deal partly on the
- strength of his drop-dead Perot impression
-
- -- Private detectives: Perot won't need as many of them
- anymore
-
- -- Molly Ivins, who will no longer be asked to translate
- Perotisms
-
-
-
-