In the Republican field, the week goes to the challengers. Steve Forbes's strong second-place finish sent him to New Hampshire in search of a needed bounce, and Alan Keyes's third-place showing has actually elevated his status: He's even being attacked! The energized right complicates the Bush/McCain face-off in New Hampshire. If conservative carping pulls votes away from Governor Bush, a John McCain win, already a good bet, becomes inevitable. We'll then find out if a McCain victory in New Hampshire punctures Bush's inevitability and gives the Senator an upset win in South Carolina, or if the Bush camp has an impenetrable firewall in the Palmetto State. Bush will face a rocky couple of weeks, as a triumphant Al Gore is rehabilitated as a formidable winner.

Nervous Republicans who wish to avert their eyes from their frontrunner's roughing-up should turn their attention to the good news on the congressional front. Senator Bob Kerrey's retirement puts the Senate even further beyond the Democrats' grasp, and House Republicans won an extra majority vote with the switch of Rep. Virgil Goode of Virginia from Democrat to independent. Goode has pledged to vote for Speaker Hastert in the next Congress.

A final thought. Did Hillary Clinton wait until after the first of the year to take up New York residency to avoid paying state taxes for 1999?