For months the White House has treated foreign initiatives like political poison.

It turned out that in Britain today, tax cuts are political poison.

However, Toll highways have been seen as political poison, and no politician has made them a part of any election campaign.

Last week's debates suggest that anything like that will be seen as an indirect tax and, as such, political poison.

But the White House has decided that the very term is political poison.

In short, a little political poison can go a long way.

The French deficit is now about 5 percent, but Chirac wants to avoid the political poison of appearing to bow to outside pressure.

So much for her status as political poison.

But open discussion of such matters appears to be regarded as political poison by the Dukakis camp.

Cigarettes are political poison just now, and politics rules on this turf.