KERRY FLACKING

In the wake of Al Gore winning an Oscar for his environmentalist documentary, Sen. John Kerry and his wife are vigorously promoting their new environmentalist book, "This Moment on Earth."

Teresa Heinz Kerry last Tuesday sent out an e-mail to her husband's political list. She bragged that the book had soared in one day from 3,398th on Amazon.com to No. 139.

"This huge first day of sales shows that Americans really care about the environment," said Mrs. Kerry, who then issued this plea: "Please, come check it out -- write a review -- share your thoughts about environmental heroes you know -- and spread the word to your friends and neighbors." By Thursday afternoon, the book had reached 13th place on Amazon.com.

SPECTER SALE

With Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania making an unusually early announcement of intent to seek re-election in 2010, conservative Republicans who nearly defeated him in 2004 are flying the white flag.

Conservative Rep. Pat Toomey, who now heads the Club for Growth, came within 18,000 votes of defeating Specter in the 2004 primary. But the resounding defeat of conservative Sen. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania last year inhibits desires to challenge Specter again.

Specter antagonized the Right this year by voting to allow Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees to unionize, and he earlier voted for higher tobacco taxes. But as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Specter managed the Supreme Court confirmation of conservatives John Roberts and Samuel Alito. That emboldened him to appear at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last month in Washington.