Gary Condit didn't just "injure" himself in his August 23 interview with Connie Chung -- he immolated himself, says PR pro Fraser P. Seitel. Other PR pros agree with this assessment. His performance was so bad that Spaeth Communications has awarded him its "Bimbo Award" for telling Chung, "I don't think I'm stonewalling." Merrie Spaeth, former Director of Media for President Reagan, gives the Bimbo Award to people whose denials are so unconvincing that they actually reinforce the impression they are trying to dispel.

Commercial Alert and Obligation Inc. sent letters today to state officials in all 50 states requesting an investigation of an offer by Channel One, an in-school marketing company, to pay $500 to public school employees in exchange for convincing a school principal to enter into a contract to receive Channel One's product. The groups, which oppose the commercialization of schools, sent the letters to state attorneys general and chief state school officers in all 50 states, as well as to the heads of state ethics agencies.

A recent survey of politicians found that they are as frustrated as the rest of us with the corruption of modern politics. The University of Maryland interviewed 7,500 winning and losing candidates for election and found that most candidates want the focus of campaigning more on the substance of policy ideas and were frustrated by the media's tendency to focus on personal foibles and insider clashes.