HE-MEN
Human Events (Aug. 13 issue) asks the GOP presidential candidates whether they would support legislation to remove women from combat units in all branches of the military.

Those answering yes: Gary Bauer, Pat Buchanan, Steve Forbes, and Dan Quayle.

Those answering no: Lamar Alexander, George W. Bush, and Alan Keyes.

No response: Elizabeth Dole, Orrin Hatch, and John McCain.

The Bush campaign explained their man's answer this way: "Governor Bush believes that there is no reason to turn the clock back on military service by women, especially in light of current recruitment problems. Moreover, on the modern battlefield, with its range and complexity of weapon systems, it is increasingly hard to say who is or is not a combatant. Although Gov. Bush does not advocate putting women in infantry units, women are a very important element of our armed forces today and are serving with distinction. There are some issues such as training that should be examined more closely."

GORE'S GHOST
In a speech to the Progressive National Baptist Convention last week, Vice President Gore repeated one of his favorite tall tales. He described his father's commitment to the civil rights movement as a senator: "He supported the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and lost his next re-election. But his conscience won and he taught me that was more important than any election."

Reality check: Sen. Albert Gore, Sr., lost his re-election in 1970 to Rep. Bill Brock, a Republican from Chattanooga who had voted for the Voting Rights Act in 1965 as a member of the House. The vice president doesn't mention this inconvenient fact because he would like us to think his father was some sort of civil rights martyr. Gore, Sr., by the way, opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act--a decision he continued to defend even after he left office.