European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday october 21, 1994 commentary the stars and stripes page.13 it s party not George f. Will Costa Mesa Calif. Perhaps Michael Huffington who earned an engineering degree from Stanford and an . From Harvard really is intellectually inconsiderable when compared to the journalists and cartoonists currently condescending to him. However that is not a truth americans must hold to be self evident. Perhaps it is sinful As Huffington a de plovers say that his own Money is financing his Republican Challenge to democratic sen. Dianne Feinstein. However enough already of the adjective Quot unprecedented when describing Huffington a spending. The sensible measure of political spending is the a ,. A amount spent rela Tive to the states voting age population. In 1982 Mark Dayton used $6.9 million of his wealth contributions to himself or Loans made or guaranteed by himself in a losing Senate race in Minnesota. In 1994 dollars that amounts to $10.6 million or $3.56 per minnesotan of voting age. In 1984 West Virginia a Jay Rockefeller used $10.2 million $14.5 million in today a dollars winning a Senate seat at $10.12 1994 dollars per potential voter. In 1988 Wisconsin s Herbert Kohl used $6.9 million of his wealth $8.6 million in 1994 dollars winning a Senate seat at $2.44 per voter. If Huffington spends $25 million of his own Money that will be $1.32 per voter. There was much less journalistic indignation about Dayton Kohl and Rockefeller than there is about Huffington. Dayton Kohl and Rockefeller Are Liberal democrats. A a a a a i am a says Huffington a for Ful of Corkscrew pasta paused Halfway Between plate and him Quot a lot tougher than anyone gives me credit  he Wilt get such credit from Feinstein whose 29-Point Lead has evaporated. Certainly his skin is Tough. To the Herd of Independent minds who Are his critics in the Media he is engagingly Serene about the herds disapproval. The new yorker warns that an unnamed source says Huffington washes his hands frequently. Vanity fair reports that a a rumours have swirled about his sexual preferences and an unnamed Gay source says of Huffington the married father of two Young girls i  be amazed if he thought in a couple of  a new York times columnist says that when Huffington was in Reagan a defense department he was a a a lacklustre  perhaps the columnist has a list of Lustrous bureaucrats. For Feinstein this is not a year to be living dangerously so she is not presenting herself As what she is the savvy operator who once said Quot basically my life is  rather she is running As defender of the Republic against the Huffington menace denied this Way in one of her ads Quot the associated press reports that government records describe Huffington As secretive threatening and  actually the Quot government records Are papers submitted in a lawsuit by business competitors of Huffington. When Huffington a detractors depart from Anonymous arid and to mince attacks on him and on his wife a religious View they make the Case for him that he makes on his own behalf. The detractors say he lacks both Quot experience and a list of legislative achievements from his one term in Congress. Huffington responds Fine. Everyone who admires the people experienced at making the government what it is and who measure political virtue by legislative quantities should vote for Feinstein. Huffington May win not because of what he is but because of who he is not her. She is a political careerist this is her 13th time on a ballot and much More Liberal than he. It is termin logically Peculiar but True conservatives Are the people most unhappy about the status quo. Those californians whose principal complaint about government is that there is too Little of it Are Feinstein voters. They Are pleased As punch that she just recently got passed a Bill bringing six million acres of Southern California desert under Federal  a. But out in Bakersfield the other Day a tepid Huffington supporter a but ardent anti Feinstein voter asked Quot How the hell do you harm a desert a Bakersfield is in Kern county where a Farmer is facing fed eral prosecution for killing rats of the Tipton Kangaroo variety that enjoys Federal reverence under the endangered species act. The feds have seized the murder a i done to care Liat he stands for a a i just want to feel better a relieve your frustrations r weapon the Farmers tractor. Kern county is Huffington country in a sense All the Sturm and Drang about this contest is disproportionate one senator is 1 percent of one half of one Branch of the Federal government. However come january a margin of one could decide which party organizes the Senate thereby deciding who controls committee chairmanships and hence the legislative and investigatory Agenda. So Huffington is not Only not Feinstein he is not Ted Kennedy As chairman of it he labor and human resources committee and not Joe Biden As chairman of judiciary. This is a Good year to be defined As what you Are not. C Washington Post a peace Quot i Don t remember an incident when we were All so deeply involved a an israeli Friend said. Quot people Felt that something happened in their own  she was talking about the kidnapping of an israeli Soldier Cpl. Nahshon Waxman by Hamas terrorists a and his murder by them last Friday As an israeli Force unsuccessfully stormed the West Bank House where he was being held. All of Israel had seen the videotape made by Hamas with the Young Man pleading for his life Ana All mourned his death. The trauma of the kidnapping raised hard questions for the future of the Effort to construct an israeli pales Tinian peace. Despite the emotions in Israel the problems Are far harder on the palestinian Side. Prime minister Yitzhak Rabin handled the tensions of the kidnapping with extraordinary political skill. He made mistakes but understandable ones that should not be second guessed. Most significantly he acted in a Way that left the peace process intact in terms of israeli politics and Public  smuggled the Waxman videotape into Gaza and gave it to the press there Rabin therefore reached the wrong conclusion that Waxman was being held somewhere in the Gaza strip. He insisted that Yasser Arafat who has authority in Gaza under the first phase of the peace process was responsible for finding the prisoner. In the turmoil of those few Days hardly anyone noticed what Rabin did not do. He did not Send the israeli army Back into Gaza in Force to search for Waxman. In putting the responsibility on Arafat he effectively confirmed palestinian authority in Gaza. _. The episode and Rabin a handling of it had another psychological effect. It reinforced the shift in israeli thinking about the Plo that began when Rabin Shook Arafat a hand at the White House a year ago the shift toward seeing the Plo As the Best Hope of peace with the palestinians with Hamas As the enemy. Arafat acted in a Way that furthered that shift in israeli opinion. He did not bristle at Rabin a rough and As it turned out misplaced demand to find the prisoner in Gaza. He arrested 200 Hamas members and tried to help in an abortive attempt to negotiate with Hamas political leaders. In palestinian political terms in fact Hamas won. Its supporters marched in Gaza demanding that Arafat release those arrested. In the still occupied sections of the West Bank too some Felt Hamas gained support. Israel is pressing Arafat to suppress Hamas and disarm its military members who still drive around Gaza waving guns. The demand echoes what happened in Israel soon after the birth of the state in 1948, when David Ben Gurion a government seized weapons from a ship the Altal Cna that was bringing them to the Anthony Lewis Airgun movement a and thereby made Clear that there could be no private army inside Israel. But Arafat a palestinian authority is far weaker than the Ben Gurion government was. It is not Clear that he has the Power to disarm Hamas much less to make the movement illegal Quot one should t envy Yasser Arafat a an israeli said. A a it a not a Job you would want a it is worse because Arafat a Headquarters is in Gaza a Hamas stronghold. To rebuild that desperately impoverished place and thereby gain political legitimacy e needs the promised Aid from outside. That requires cooperation from Israel which demands suppression of Hamas. But if he moves in that direction he loses legitimacy with Many palestinians. Quot its almost a no win situation for him a said Yaron Ezra i an israeli political theorist now in the United states. A the Best we can expect is wavering  but then Ezra i added a comment that other israelis made when i asked about the effects of the kidnapping Quot i am convinced that the peace process will not de stopped.�?�. ,. Perhaps there is an element of Wishful thinking in that conclusion. But with All the setbacks a the Hebron massacre by an israeli extremist and palestinian terror a it remains a fact that there is no Way to Security and a Normal life for either israelis or palestinians but peace Between them. A c now York. Times a a a