tactic for a politician hoping to get out of a spot of bother.

Some unkind folk may argue PLP leader Mr. Frederick Wade is familiar with this escape route.

But, perhaps, Mr. Wade should focus on his party's own lines of communication.

This week Mr. Wade decreed PLP policy statements could only be given to the media in writing. Candidates were free, however, to speak on anything else.

Strange, therefore, that when quizzed on routine constituency matters, PLP veteran Mr. Stanley Morton told The Royal Gazette : "I can't comment, everything has to go through the party system.'' The affable Mr. Morton relented, however, when the intent of his leader's declaration was spelled out to him.

A clear case of misunderstanding, it seems.

***** AMERICAN citizens married to Bermudians and who are allowed to vote in the election can now do so without any fear of losing their US citizenship.

US Supreme Court interpretations of legislation concerning loss of citizenship has revealed that Congress has very limited powers to revoke citizenship.

"Voting an another country's election no longer constitutes grounds for loss of citizenship,'' Mr. Tom Sneed of the US Consulate in Bermuda said.

The only straightforward grounds under which Congress could revoke citizenship is if an American serves in a foreign Government or serves in a military at war with the United States.

US citizens eligible to vote in Bermuda must be Commonwealth citizens who appeared on the 1976 voters' list and who are resident in Bermuda and on the current Parliamentary register.

***** HISTORICALLY, the Progressive Labour Party has claimed closer ties to the US Democratic Party than the United Bermuda Party.

And it has underlined that claim through the election battle over who has done better for Bermuda in Washington on the Base issue.

In a Monday Press conference, the party said its better ties stood Bermuda well on the Base issue because the UBP had lost its contacts when George Bush and the Republicans lost the 1992 election.

The PLP also attacked the Government's Washington lobbyist (at $100,000-plus a year, they said) for not having access to powerful Democrats.

For the record, all politicians met by Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan in Washington are Democrats.

They include Congressman Charles Rose, who is head of the House Administration Committee which controls the nuts and bolts of each Congressman's Capitol Hill operations.

As chairman of the Agriculture subcommittee on speciality crops he has influence over many Congressional districts, particularly the 20-odd tobacco-growing districts in the South.

Last week, Mr. Rose, of North Carolina, met with First Lady Hillary Clinton on health reform issues related to tobacco -- the only Congressman she met on the issue from the region.

"He is without question the most powerful member of the House from the southeastern quadrant of the US,'' one source said in Washington last week.

Mr. Rose's seniority is underscored by the fact that he has announced that he will run for House Speaker when Mr. Tom Foley steps down.

Premier Swan also met with Congressman Charles Rangel, who is the fourth-ranking member of House Ways and Means Committee. As the committee responsible for tax, trade and social security, it is considered the most powerful in Congress.

Some Washington sources believe Mr. Rangel could be a contender for the Ways and Means chairmanship when Mr. Dan Rostenkowski steps down.

Congressman Robert Torricelli was also on Premier Swan's itinerary. He chairs the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which coordinates efforts for Bermuda with the US Government on questions related to the US-UK Bases Agreement, the document that governs the US bases in Bermuda.

His chairmanship makes him the third-ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

And then there is Bermuda's Washington lobbyist, Mr. Ken Levine, a self-described Democrat.

He was a political appointee of President Jimmy Carter and went to school with Mr. Samuel Burger, who is deputy national security advisor to the President.

Mr. Levine is also a friend of Vice President Al Gore.

***** PITY the poor Government politicians on the election trail. They find themselves displaying enthusiasm about the most mundane corners of their Ministries.

New Works Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto was a good example as she explained Government's thrilling glass recycling programme at a campaign press conference.

She told reporters one of the "several interesting ways'' crushed glass was used was in the manufacture of waste bins.

But the one that was really "pretty exciting,'' she said, was in the drainage of turf at Ocean View golf course.

You could never accuse her of neglecting the gritty grass roots issues.

Congressman Charles Rose.

OCTOBER 1993 ELECTION