L Word

At this week's Republican National Convention much raillery will be heaped on the "L word," for liberal, and the "T word," for taxes. But there is another word that no speaker will dare make sport with, though it too is playing a role, albeit a backstage one, in the presidential campaign. I mean the "J word," for Jew. Recently a Wall Street Journal editorial on Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis' handling of the Rev.

Without picking a side in the entertaining Republican presidential contest, let us stipulate that Mitt Romney was smack on target when he called Newt Gingrich an influence peddler. A lobbyist? No, not in a legal sense. But did he lobby? Yes, in the common usage of the word. An influence peddler? That pretty much covers it. Many Sacramento lobbyists and their cousin "consultants" got a chuckle out of the fiery Romney-Gingrich exchange in the Jan. 23 Florida debate. There was Romney, pulling out the old pejorative "lobbyist," and the former House speaker resisting it as if he were being called a con man or a pimp.

If you've watched Showtime's "The L Word," now in its second season, you know that Shane -- played by 27-year-old Katherine Moennig -- is the center star in an elaborate constellation of lesbian melodrama. Despite its West Hollywood setting, the series shoots in Vancouver. But now that the show has wrapped filming, Moennig gets to explore Los Angeles, after having moved from New York about two years ago.

Is America poised for a liberal revival? Vice President Al Gore and Bill Bradley compete to offer plans for universal health care and uplifting the poor. After hard-fought campaigns, labor unions have won elections to represent textile workers in North Carolina, shipyard workers in New Orleans and home-care workers in Los Angeles County. Opinion polls suggest that voters care more about reining in HMOs and protecting Social Security than beefing up the military or cutting taxes.

There is so much drama going on in Romi Klinger's life right now. Her ex-girlfriend Whitney is dating her friend Sara, who has brainwashed Whitney into thinking Romi is evil. And Romi is worried what her other friends will do when they find out about Romi's new relationship - with a man. "Lesbians can be really harsh toward women who sleep with men again. It's like, 'What is she doing? Is she a real lesbian?'" Romi asks the camera. It's a question that has serious consequences for her personal and work life, since Romi is a star of "The Real L Word" - the Showtime reality TV series that entered its third season this past week.

Not enough reality TV in your life? Talk about "The Real L Word." Showtime's new series, a reality spinoff of the network's defunct scripted series "The L Word," revolves around six Los Angeles-based lesbians and their everyday melodrama. Think any one of the "Real Housewives" editions meets "The L Word." (Sunday) If you like '60s fashion , talk about "A Single Man." The film, out on DVD, stars Colin Firth as George Falconer, a gay British university professor living in Southern California in 1962 who is struggling to cope with the death of his partner.

A fired-up Michael Dukakis campaigned today as the political ally of women and young people, while George Bush scoffed at his opponent's weekend embrace of the liberal label, calling it a "miracle of miracles." With eight days left until Election Day, and some polls indicating a race closer than earlier surveys suggested, Bush shored up support in Kentucky and Missouri while Dukakis got a noisy welcome in California and said, "I'm fired up."

President Reagan on Thursday began a two-day campaign swing through Texas and Florida by hammering the Democrats with his two-term record and warning voters against wiping out Republican progress in a "moment of folly." His political arsenal was bolstered by a kind of attack dictionary that redefined the Democrats' campaign language and a relentless use of what has come to be known as "the L word."

For one breathless moment last week the entire political world seemed transfixed by a single word: the dreaded "L word," liberal. And what made it so mesmerizing was that it was uttered by Michael S. Dukakis. After months of trying to avoid it, the Democratic presidential nominee was finally acknowledging the political faith that George Bush had endlessly accused him of adhering to.