Inside the Beltway

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Plain(s) politics

We opened yesterday's mail to see that Academy Award-winning actor and director Robert Duvall and his fourth wife, Luciana, will host a high-end cocktail party at their country home in The Plains, Va., later this month to benefit Republican presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani.

The invitation to the Sept. 20 gala requests a campaign contribution of $2,300 per guest, which gets you a photo with the candidate (and maybe even the celebrated actor). Others can fork over $1,000 ($500 if you're younger than 35) to mingle about the Middleburg-area estate and listen to Mr. Giuliani's remarks.

Mr. Duvall, who is a descendant of both Robert E. Lee and George Washington, announced his support for Mr. Giuliani earlier this week.

Brush with history

We couldn't decide whether to title this next item a "Brush with history" or a "Brush with Hillary." Either way, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is lucky to be alive to run for president today.

So reveals former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, who recently sat down for a luncheon interview in Old Town Alexandria with Frances Killpatrick of the Old Town Crier.

As Mr. McAuliffe tells the story, he and his young son, Jack, were at Camp David one Thanksgiving visiting President and Mrs.Clinton, when Jack decided to take a joy ride.

"Hillary and I were walking down a path, and Jack came to pick us up in a golf cart," he explains. "Instead of putting on the brake, he stepped on the gas, ran into Hillary and sent her flying. 'What a career wrecker,' I thought. 'My son kills the first lady.' "

As it was, Mrs. Clinton got up and dusted herself off. And the rest is history.