ASHINGTON - New campaign fund-raising figures added up to good news for House Democrats but bad news for the party's presidential hopefuls. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reported yesterday that it had almost $20 million in the bank at the end of 1999 - 10 times as much as two years ago. But the Democratic National Committee reported having only $2.5 million on hand - well below the $4.5 million it had in the bank at the end of 1997. And the Republican National Committee reported it had $10 million cash on hand. (AP)
Hatch commercial hits administration
WASHINGTON - Seeking attention in his longshot bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Senator Orrin Hatch is airing a 28-minute commercial in which he details a litany of Clinton administration missteps and controversies and argues that it has been the ''most deceitful and corrupt in our nation's history.'' It's the first paid television time for Hatch, and his campaign is spending $50,000 to air the ad twice each in Iowa and in New Hampshire. The Utah senator has raised only about $2.3 million, a fraction of his competitors, and is mired at the bottom of the polls. (AP)
Mrs. Clinton to be guest on Letterman
ALBANY, N.Y. - Hillary Rodham Clinton has agreed to appear as a guest on tonight's ''Late Show with David Letterman.'' She has been resisting invitations for months as Letterman has made a running gag of calling her a carpetbagger from Arkansas. Her likely opponent in the US Senate race, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, has been on the show frequently. (AP)
Donald Trump is a bachelor again
WASHINGTON - Donald Trump apparently is an eligible bachelor once again. The New York tycoon and his model-girlfriend Melania Knauss are no longer a couple, a Trump associate said. Knauss has appeared at Trump's side to test his potential as a Reform Party presidential candidate. She could not be reached for comment. (AP)
GOP said to limit black voter access
GREENVILLE, S.C. - A state legislator says the Republican Party is trying to hinder black voters' access to the polls by keeping some polling places shut during its presidential primary. The GOP, however, says the move only reflects the availability of poll workers. (AP)
