eorge W. Bush's decision to endorse citizenship for Elian Gonzalez is the right thing to do — both compassionate and conservative. It's also smart politics. Which is why Vice President Gore just felt compelled to support legal permanent residency for the boy, too.

Florida is no longer a gimme for the GOP because Cuban-Americans are now a swing vote in national elections. In 1992, Bush-Quayle won Florida on the strength of the Cuban-American vote (without which the state would have gone Democratic). But in 1996, 40 percent of Cuban-Americans in Miami's Dade County voted for Clinton and Gore-bringing the Democrats their first victory in 20 years. A Rasmussen Research poll currently has Gore leading Bush in Florida by six points.

The risk for Bush is that the public at large would react negatively. But it's hard to believe anybody outside Miami will vote on the basis of Elian. Inside Miami, there are plenty of people who will — and they all want Elian to stay in America.

Prescription for Trouble
Senator Slade Gorton of Washington state told his GOP colleagues yesterday that he was about to introduce a bill to make it illegal to charge more for prescription drugs in the U.S. than in Canada. In effect, he would import a foreign government's price controls into our country. Did we mention that Gorton's in a tough race for re-election?

Tasteless
The Republican National Committee issued a press release yesterday about the Gore campaign's refusal to let campaign-finance scold "Granny D" into a fundraiser unless she paid $500. The headline on the release? "Gore to Granny D: 'Put Out-or Get Out.'"

Adwatch Watch
On Wednesday, the New York Times ran a small item by John M. Broder about an anti-Gore ad that some Republicans are running in California. The ad accuses Gore of hypocrisy on, among other things, tobacco. Broder's comment on the "accuracy" of the ad: "Mr. Gore has boasted in the past about growing tobacco on his family's farm, but since his sister's death from lung cancer in 1984, he has been an outspoken foe of cigarette companies." Actually, he was boasting about growing tobacco — and taking money from cigarette companies — for years after his sister's death.