A German issue. The cover story and lead editorial assess the record of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, now the longest-serving German leader since Bismarck. Kohl handled unification magnificently, says the Economist, but he will secure his legacy as a statesman only if the European Monetary Union succeeds. Kohl's girth and appetite are the subject of numerous wry comments. Also, the lead business story says the privatization of the German telephone company reflects the maturation of German capitalism. German businesses are finally learning the importance of efficiency and equity.

     The New Republic endorses Bill Clinton. A long editorial praises Clinton for "restor[ing] public trust in government" by tackling deficit reduction, pushing free trade, and agreeing to welfare reform. On the downside, the president has ducked the entitlement crisis, and the magazine predicts that a Democratic Congress led by "old-school liberal barons" could "sink a second Clinton term." The editorial also slobbers over TNR favorite son Al Gore. Also, the agenda for the next four years: Eleven writers tell Clinton why he should push their pet project. (Andrew Sullivan urges a saner gays-in-the-military policy, Gregg Easterbrook urges a saner environmental policy, etc.)

     The Times Mag advocates national-education standards, arguing that standards are the best way to guarantee more students learn the basic math and reading required for the information economy. The article rips the voucher programs favored by Dole (they might destroy public schools) and tepidly recommends the charter schools favored by Clinton (they won't be effective without standards). Also, an interview with Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner, filled with softball questions. ("Q: A lot of proposals floating around state legislatures are aimed at throwing the children of illegal immigrants out of public schools. Do you find such ideas helpful?") A photo essay observes the Secret Service on the campaign trail. And, the country-music industry searches for the Next Big Thing (enough of Garth Brooks, already).

     Newsweek certifies the Lippo affair as a major scandal by putting James Riady on the cover. The story untangles the connections between Clinton and the Indonesian Riady family, suggesting that the Riadys' contributions to the Democratic Party bought access to Clinton and Gore, as well as top-level administration jobs for their friends. Clinton and colleagues are "too tolerant of the kind of money-grubbing they vowed four years ago to stop," chides the magazine. Another story bemoans the huge rise in "soft money" donations to both parties, and takes Bob Dole to task for doing favors for donors such as the Gallo wine company. Also, an article explains why the Dow is a lousy indicator of stock market performance (much less the economy): The sample of Dow stocks is too small; the weight given to some stocks is too large. And Newsweek marvels at young people who act like old people (cigars, martinis, and golf, oh my!)

     Time's cover story about the Bill Moyers/PBS series Genesis: A Living Conversation echoes Newsweek's inside piece from last week. Like Newsweek, Time lavishly praises the series for its reinterpretation of Genesis. The new reading, which puzzles over God's cruelty and the patriarchs' flaws, is "exhilarating," says Time (though it admits that some religious viewers may consider it old news). In an attached essay, Robert (The Moral Animal) Wright considers Genesis from the perspective of evolutionary biology. Time pays homage to another ancient classic: A long review raves about a new translation of Homer's Odyssey. And an article exposes how powerful anti-Castro Cuban-Americans, including Clinton's sister-in-law, have shaped Clinton's hard-line Cuba policy.

     A news-you-can-use cover package. The 1996 Career Guide, subtitled "You, Inc.," suggests that now is the best time ever to be your own boss. Job security and careers are disappearing, replaced by temping and entrepreneurship. U.S. News picks the "Best Jobs for the Future," which include intellectual property lawyer, forensic accountant, and--surprise, surprise--computer technician. Also, yet another soccer mom story: U.S. News profiles one who's probably voting for Clinton. And an article tallies the impact of NAFTA, concluding that it has been neither disaster nor panacea.

     The Standard's cover story advances a favorite cause, the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), which would ban all public affirmative-action programs in California. Blasting the "massive mobilization" of big business, academia, and media against the initiative, the article reserves special scorn for the "elite" that declares "affirmative action is too 'complex' to be entrusted to voters." A separate staff editorial hopes that Bob Dole's recent endorsement of CCRI doesn't doom the initiative to defeat. Also, an article indicts police unions for protecting police officers instead of fighting crime (oh, and for endorsing Bill Clinton). And an unkind review of David Brock's The Seduction of Hillary Rodham.      The Nation claims that the Democratic Party has not done enough to fight CCRI in a story about California's election-year politics, whacking Clinton for his "gross abandonment" of poor and minority voters and the Democratic Party for refusing to fund an anti-CCRI media campaign. Also a piece titled "The Unmentionables" lists the five issues Dole and Clinton won't talk about: the bloated defense budget; the need for national health care; the drawbacks of free trade; political upheaval around the world; Social Security. (Social Security? There's no problem with Social Security, says The Nation, but the candidates believe there is a problem with it. They're just not talking about it.)

     The New Yorker's special issue on American politics is light on presidential-campaign politics, heavy on profiles. Those featured include George Stephanopoulos; San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown; and Sens. John McCain and John Kerry. The Kristols are touted as today's most influential conservatives in one article and philosopher Michael Oakeshott earns the designation of the century's most influential conservative in another. A story charts the decline of Georgetown as the social center of politics. In keeping with other New Yorker specials, there are celebrity contributions: Richard Holbrooke delivers a long account of his travels in Bosnia; Arthur Miller tells why he wrote The Crucible (uh, McCarthyism); Allen Ginsberg contributes a political poem. And The New Yorker also publishes "Some Like Poetry," a poem by Polish Nobel Prize winner Wislawa Szymborska. The New Republic prints a different translation of the same poem in its Oct. 28 issue.