INSIDE WASHINGTON

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

S

ome people just can't
get enough of political
life.
Consider Ken Rudin. By
day, Mr. Rudin is Capitol
Hill producer for ABC News,
with responsibility for
coverage of the House of
Representatives.
But by night, Mr. Rudin is
proprietor of one of the
largest political campaign
button collections in exis-
tence. And according to Mr.
Rudin, changes in the use of
campaign buttons shed some
interesting light on recent
changes in the American po-
litical process.
Mr. Rudin's collection in-
cludes more than 60,000
buttons, with an emphasis
on House, Senate, guber-
natorial and local races.

"I've always loved cam-
paigns," he said in a recent
interview. "I started collec-
ting in 1966; by the end of
the year, I had a shoe box
filled up. Now I have a
`button room' for my collec-
tion."
The most unusual button
in his collection, he said, is
one that appears to be a
R.F.K. button promoting the
1968 campaign of Robert
Kennedy. But on closer ex-
amination, smaller letters
fill in the blanks:
"RatFinK." The button was
distributed by Eugene Mc-
Carthy forces after Mr.
Kennedy's belated entry
into the battle to unseat
President Lyndon Johnson.
"I have a lot of sub-
collections," Mr. Rudin said.

"For example, I have all the
members of the House
Judiciary Committee during
the Nixon impeachment.
During the House ethics
committee investigation into
Jim Wright, I had all but one
member."
But it's not all trivia to Mr.
Rudin. Changes in Ameri-
can politics threaten to put
an end to serious button col-
lecting.
"With so much more
money going to media con-
sultants and to electronic
campaigning, there's less go-
ing into traditional cam-
paign techniques," he said.
"And that means buttons."
Also the diminishing
likelihood of unseating in-
cumbents makes for less in-
teresting races.
"When you have a re-
election rate of 98 percent in
the House, why bother
distributing buttons?" he
said.

Peyote Issue Convenes
Odd Cast Of Characters

When a House subcom-
mittee begins hearings on
the Religious Freedom Res-
toration Act this week, it
will bring together one of the
unlikeliest casts of
characters in recent
memory.
The bill is a legislative re-
sponse to a recent Supreme
Court ruling against a Na-
tive American's claim that
peyote use was an essential
part of his religious practice.
But the decision affects
more than just the use of the

Stephen Solarz (D-NY)
would restore it.
The legislation has won
support from groups as di-
verse as the National
Association of Evangelicals
and Agudath Israel of
America.
At this week's hearings,
testimony was scheduled
from representatives of the
Concerned Women for
America, a conservative
Evangelical group, and Peo-
ple for the American Way —
groups that represent the
absolute poles of the debate
over the relationship bet-

ween government and re-
ligion.
Despite this impressive
array of support, it is unlike-
ly the bill will move before
the end of the current con-
gressional session because of
the immense legislative
workload.
Still, interest in the mea-
sure remains high. During
the August recess, many
legislators heard from
pastors and rabbis in their
districts in support of the bill
— a fact that has provided
some new impetus for the
measure.

Tax Deduction Cap
Might Curb Tzedakah

Stephen Solarz:
Sponsor of bill

hallucinogenic drug. Until
the ruling, a state which re-
stricted or outlawed a re-
ligious practice had to prove
a "compelling state inter-
est" in such a restriction.
The High Court decision
removed that necessity; the
bill, sponsored by Rep.

Government workers and
financially strapped federal
agencies aren't the only ones
watching the ongoing
budget summit with con-
cern.
Jewish organizations
stand to come out big losers
if one of the proposals cur-
rently before the bi-partisan
budget group is adopted.
The proposal would put a
cap on income tax deduc-
tions for families with joint
incomes above $200,000.
That would include such
items as mortgage interest
deductions, deductions for
state and local income taxes
—and deductions for chari-
table giving.
"The problem for us is that

the only discretionary ex-
penditure in that package is
charitable giving," said
Ellen Witman of the Council
of Jewish Federations Wash-
ington office. "People don't
necessarily give because
they get tax deductions —
but how much they give is
often related to the fact that
they can deduct it from their
taxes."

Wealthy people — major
supporters of most charities,
Jewish and non-Jewish —
could easily run up to the
proposed $50,000 cap just
with interest and local tax
deductions, leaving little lat-
itude for deductible chari-
table contributions.

Grass Roots Activist
Heads Democrat Group

Stephen Gutow is a man
who likes a challenge. And
when the Texas lawyer
moves to Washington next
month, he will get more than
his share.
Mr. Gutow, is the newly
named director of the Na-
tional Jewish Democratic
Council, the organization of
Jewish Democrats stemming
from the 1988 Michael
Dukakis campaign —and
from fears that Jews are
deserting their traditional
party-of-choice at an alarm-
ing rate.
In many ways, Mr.
Gutow's background made
him a natural for the posi-
tion.
"I've been involved in
Democratic politics literally
since childhood," Mr. Gutow
said in a recent interview.
"My mom took me down to
Stevenson headquarters in
1956, and I was president of
`Kids for Kennedy' in 1960."
In the '60s and '70s, Mr.
Gutow participated in a
number of liberal causes —
traditionally the causes that
helped bind Jews to the
Democratic party. Later, he
set up the Southwest divi-
sion of the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), a venture in grass-
roots pro-Israel activity that
is still regarded as a model
for other regions.
The functions of the new
organization are still
somewhat vague. But some
hints can be gleaned from
the fact planners turned to a
man with a strong history of
grassroots activism for the
executive director's post, not
to a Washington insider.
"Jews really want to get
involved in the political pro-

Stephen Gutow:
"Kids for Kennedy."

cess," Mr. Gutow said. "And
not just in Washington. This
new group can serve as a
conduit into the political
process at every level."
Inevitably, some political
observers have suggested
that the Council is primarily
targeted at Jesse Jackson —
a suggestion Mr. Gutow em-
phatically denied.
"I know there are many
Jewish people who feel this
discomfort," he said. "But I
also know there are many
Jewish people that are sup-
portive of Jackson. I don't
think that was the motiva-
tion for this group."
The Council should not be
perceived as part of a "stop
Jackson" movement, Mr.
Gutow emphasized. In fact,
he implied, the Council
could serve as a bridge bet-
ween Jackson's supporters
and the Jewish community
by sensitizing both sides to
the racial issues that
threaten to destroy the
Democratic coalition.

Hearings May Air Jews'
New Germany Concerns

Almost unnoticed in the
rush of events in recent days
was the final treaty paving
the way for the unification of
Germany next month.
But Jewish activists are
starting to take notice.
Contrary to administra-
tion expectations, the Senate
plans to review the treaty —
which will provide a unique
opportunity for Jewish
groups to get their two cents
+in before unification — as an
accomplished fact.
Jewish activists have ex-
pressed concern that the
unification agreement bet-
ween the two Germanys

makes no reference to the
Holocaust.
Until now, however, these
concerns could only be ex-
pressed in quiet, often
frustrating meetings with
German officials.
The administration, pre-
occupied with other foreign
policy problems, has been
reluctant to get involved in
the nitty-gritty of German
unification.
"Nobody has any illusions
that we have much
leverage," said Warren
Eisenberg, director of B'nai
B'rith's International Coun-
cil. LI

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

37

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ABC News Producer
Is All Buttoned. Up