WASHINGTON INSIGHT

RENT-A-SCANDAL: Watergate buffs now have some special places to lay their heads in the nation’s capital. In remembrance of the 25th anniversary of the break-in, the Premier Hotel, a Howard Johnson’s across the street from the infamous office complex, has turned Room 723--the spot where lookout man Alfred Baldwin watched burglars rifle through records on June 17, 1972--into a shrine to the nation’s premier political scandal. For $200 a night, guests can savor wall-to-wall Watergate memorabilia, including a giant portrait of a smiling President Nixon above the bed, a copy of Nixon’s one-line resignation speech next to the television and a telescope by the window for peering into the former offices of the Democratic National Committee. “Maybe the ghosts of Watergate will come out at night,” said hotel general manager Mohammed Ihsan, busy prepping for Tuesday’s anniversary celebration, which featured former White House aide G. Gordon Liddy and journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Not to be outdone, the ritzy Watergate Hotel hosted a major shindig Monday night featuring a police sergeant involved in the burglars’ arrest, a Nixon impersonator and hundreds of dignitaries. The hotel, which rented out rooms 214 and 314 to the burglars a quarter-century ago, is offering special “break-in” packages starting at $195 a night that it says are “a steal of a deal.”

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OLD SOLDIERS FADE AWAY: The sudden withdrawal of Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston as a candidate to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff has churned up speculation about alternative candidates with every possible qualification--except, in some cases, a desire to hold the job. In the aftermath of Ralston’s adultery-related withdrawal 10 days ago, top defense officials have floated the names of such worthies as Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Dennis Reimer, and Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, who has already held the job for nearly two terms. Shalikashvili, however, has declared in nearly Shermanesque terms he doesn’t want to start a third term in October; those close to Fogleman say he is well along on planning the new life he’ll begin when he retires in October 1998. And a defense official says there is “no way” Reimer would want the job.

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DON’T STOP (THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW): It’s never too early to think about the next presidential campaign, especially if you’re a potential candidate. Among Democrats, Vice President Al Gore and House Democratic leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), former Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) and Sens. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) are all thinking about the next race. “I might,” said Kerrey recently when asked if he would run. “I don’t think it’s going to be a crowded field.” Kerrey noted that he ran unsuccessfully and “impulsively” in 1992. “I was lucky to get off the dance floor with my dignity the last time,” he said with a laugh. Asked whether Gore isn’t already the presumptive nominee, he smiled mischievously and says: “Al Gore is presumptive, all right.” Then he recited dialogue from the Mel Brooks movie, “History of the World: Part I,” where a courtier tells King Louis XIV: “Sire! The peasants are revolting!” “They certainly are,” the king replies. “So yes, Al Gore is presumptive,” Kerrey said, delphically.

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NO LAUGHING MATTER: Neither the source nor the subject is particularly humorous, but the earnest Sen. William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.), drew a big laugh Tuesday as he opened a session to mark up a bill on health care for children. The Senate Finance Committee chairman expressed his hope that members would keep amendments to “a very tight minimum.” There were already 240.