QUESTIONS: 1. Former military dictator Effrom Rios-Montt was defeated last week in a comeback bid for president of Guatemala. Only twice in the last century were two former military strongmen returned to power in Latin America through democratic elections. Can you name them? 2. Howard Dean has just announced he will become the first Democratic presidential candidate ever to decline federal matching funds. Since the present method of campaign finance took effect in 1976, however, three Republicans have declined matching funds. Can you name them? 3. Haley Barbour became the second Republican governor of Mississippi since Reconstruction. Who was the first? 4. Ernie Fletcher became the first Republican governor of Kentucky since 1967. Who was the last? 5. Democratic Philadelphia Mayor John Street recently won re-election. Excluding Street, how many former mayors of Philadelphia are living? ANSWERS: 1. Juan Peron, Argentine strongman from 1946 until he was deposed in 1955, won election to the presidency in 1973, and Hugo Banzer, strongman of Bolivia from 1970-78, won the presidency of his country in 1999. 2. John Connally in 1980, Steve Forbes in 1996, and George W. Bush in 2000. 3. Kirk Fordice, governor from 1991-99. 4. Louie B. Nunn, governor from 1967-71. 5. Four: Democrats Richardson Dilworth (1956-62), William Green (1979-83), Wilson Goode (1983-91), and Edward Rendell (1991-99). SORRY, MARGARET: With the possible exception of Rep. Tom Davis (R.-Va.), Margaret Broussard of Annville, Pa. is probably the most attentive reader of "Political I.Q." In the October 27 quiz, she notes, we asked how many times were blacks major party nominees for governor in the 20th Century and gave as the answer four: Democrats Tom Bradley of California (1982 and '86) and Doug Wilder of Virginia (1989) and Republican William Lucas of Michigan (1986). "Wasn't Carl McCall black?" Mrs. Broussard inquired. Indeed, the Democratic nominee for governor of New York in 2002 was black. To avoid admitting error, however, we can rely on a technicality: The year 2002 was in the 21st and not the 20th Century.
