APPEASING THE AGGIES

Any real chance to sustain a presidential veto of the farm bill vanished because of what senior House Republicans heard from President George W. Bush when they were summoned May 9 to the White House for a pep talk.

Bush informed the assembled Republicans that he was about to veto the final version of the farm bill for excessive spending. But he went on to suggest that Republicans from agricultural districts, hard-pressed in a tough election year for the GOP, would be free to vote their own interests. This was seen as caving in to the "aggies."

The outcome of Wednesday's vote was a foregone conclusion. Republicans supported the measure, 100 to 91, as the bill passed by veto-proof margin of 318 to 106.

RON PAUL'S TROOPS

There is no sign so far that the resources of Rep. Ron Paul's Republican presidential campaign will be made available to former GOP Rep. Bob Barr as the Libertarian Party candidate, but McCain strategists fear that will be the case.

Barr is running on much the same issues as Paul, including opposition to the military intervention in Iraq. Paul, the Libertarian candidate in 1988, has never ended his campaign for the Republican nomination and has continued to pile up impressive primary totals against Sen. John McCain. Paul has indicated he never will endorse McCain.

Without help from Paul's impressive national network, Barr would be unlikely to perform better than the usual Libertarian presidential nominees.