How valuable is a signed copy of "Gettysburg," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's new novel, which imagines a victory by the South in the most famous battle of the Civil War?

As far as Louisianian James Carville is concerned, not much.

Yes, the Democratic strategist who introduced Bill Clinton to the world actually reviewed - and even praised - the Republican leader's best-selling novel as "creative, clever and fascinating."

But that's not to say there's a place for "Gettysburg" on Carville's bookshelf.

"Seeing your item about Newt Gingrich's book, 'Gettysburg,' prompted me to write about how we came across an interesting copy of that very book," Barb Hill of Fairfax, Va., writes to this column.

"Staying at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in July for a weekend conference, we ended up in a suite and, in perusing the books in the sitting area, found a copy of 'Gettysburg,'" she reveals.

"It was personally signed to James Carville from 'your friend, Newt,' thanking him for the 'blurb' printed on the dust cover," Hill continues. "I guess James Carville had stayed in that suite earlier and left the book!"

And what does Hill plan to do with her unique find?

"Right now, it is a great political souvenir," she says, "but, if either gentleman would like it back, contact us!"

CERTAIN IT'S BEEF?

Looking for a cheap hamburger?

"If you should find yourself hankering for a hamburger, may I respectfully suggest that you go to Beijing," says 2004 presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Lieberman. "That's where you'll find the world's cheapest hamburgers."

No, this isn't "Joe's" (that's what his campaign wants us to call him) latest campaign gimmick.

Rather, Lieberman has introduced Senate Bill 1592, to require negotiation and appropriate action with respect to certain countries that engage in currency manipulation.

As for the hamburger analogy, the senator borrowed a page from the Economist magazine, which for more than 15 years has compiled a "Big Mac" index to chart the relative values of national currencies.

As the Connecticut Democrat notes, the recipe for a McDonald's Big Mac is pretty much the same everywhere, and in a perfect world it would presumably cost about the same everywhere.

"But we find that instead of costing about the same, as one would expect, in Chinese yuan a Big Mac costs about 56 percent less than it would in the average American city," he says. "Such a bargain."

What's wrong with that? The yuan, the senator explains, has been systematically kept at low value - an artificially low value - pursuant to intervention by the Chinese government in currency markets. In fact, it's about 40 percent lower than it should be in an unfettered currency market. And since 1994, the Chinese have bought almost 300 billion U.S. dollars to keep the yuan's value low.

"That's why China has the world's cheapest hamburgers," he says. "If we were only dealing with hamburgers, I would not object, but the Big Mac Index explains a good deal about why we have seen a catastrophic and growing trade deficit with China, and why this is causing massive layoffs in the U.S. manufacturing sector."

NAME THAT TUNE

When not collectively ganging up on President Bush, Democratic presidential hopefuls individually are coming up with some unusual campaign gimmicks to stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Take Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, who's announcing the availability of a signed limited edition die-cast replica of the Craftsman Truck Series No. 50 "Bob Graham for President" Ford F-150 truck driven by racing phenomenon Jon Wood.

One can play with the nifty red and white toy trucks for an $80 campaign contribution. The die cast is signed by Wood, who drove the F-150 to victory in its first race at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway in July. It was the first vehicle in a major NASCAR series to be sponsored by a presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, the presidential campaign of Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut is telling Americans: "From singing 'My Way' on 'The Tonight Show' to the Gore/Lieberman campaign song 'Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow,' Joe has always loved music.

"Here's your chance to tell us what songs inspire you and remind you of Joe. What songs would get you excited for Joe at campaign events and rallies?"

Boy, tough question. Which means it's time for yet another Beltway Beat reader survey, when our readers tell us which songs remind them of Joe.

Heck, let's not stop with Lieberman. Send us the titles of songs that remind you of any of the other presidential hopefuls, President Bush included. After all, we don't play favorites in this column. Continued...