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If height were to decide the 2000 race, Bradley, at 6-foot-4, would beat Gore, 6-foot-1, and Bush, 5-foot-11. He'd even tie Abe Lincoln as tallest president ever. Unfortunately, height isn't the deciding factor or we could call the whole thing off right now. Jimmy Carter, 5-foot-11, beat Gerald Ford, 6 feet, in 1976. Gore, by the way, is as tall as Ronald Reagan and Andrew Jackson. Bush is 3 inches shorter than his dad but as tall as Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson and Herbert Hoover.

It's terrific that Jennifer Love Hewitt has her own television show, Time of Your Life. Does that mean she won't make movies anymore?
Danny Jordan, Powells Point, N.C.

Not at all. You'll see Hewitt (Teen Choice Awards "Hottie of the Year") as her idol Audrey Hepburn in an ABC movie early next year. She has another movie in the works through her own production company, Love Spell Entertainment. Music, however, is on hold while the actress, who bought herself a beautiful L.A. house to share with her mother, works long days on her hour-long Party of Five spinoff.

How did gorgeous Gwyneth Paltrow get so famous so fast? She hasn't made that many movies, has she?
Dorothy Smith, Romeoville, Ill.

She's now working on No. 22, Bounce, with old love Ben Affleck. But it's not her films, or even her Oscar, that makes Paltrow, 27 -- next up in The Talented Mr. Ripley, with Matt Damon -- a standout in the crowded field of young actresses. It's her cool beauty (reminiscent of her mother, Blythe Danner), important connections (she was invited to Hillary Clinton's recent birthday lunch), sense of style (she's unintimidated by daring wear) and celebrity romances (she's now alleged to be seeing Friends actor David Schwimmer) that make her a paparazzi magnet.

I'm a huge fan of handsome Cleveland Indians second baseman Roberto Alomar. Tell me he's not married.
Zoe Garcia New York City

Sorry, he's engaged to tennis star Mary Pierce and says they may get married this winter. Alomar, 31, a major leaguer's son who always wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps, clearly has found another passion. "We're both sensitive people. We both have good hearts," he says. "She keeps me focused." Alomar, who signed a four-year, $32 million contract with the Indians, helped lead them to last month's playoffs in what he called his finest season. He was back with his brother, catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., and embraced by Cleveland fans, who seem to have forgotten the infamous incident of three years ago in which Roberto, then with the Baltimore Orioles, spit at a home-plate umpire.

I can't believe England's flamboyant Fergie, the Duchess of York, is now a Today correspondent. What qualifications could she possibly bring to the job?
Susan Lewis, Detroit

"You don't think having your own television show qualifies?" the Duchess, 40, responds a tad defensively. She reminds us that Today called her after seeing her short-lived British talk show. "I'll go wherever they send me. I'm looking forward to learning a lot." Fergie wouldn't comment on a new book suggesting Princess Diana was mentally ill, but did tell us: "When you think nobody likes you, but the world loves you, it's quite extraordinary. It's so sad that she didn't see how many people mourned her. It taught me that I don't want to die not knowing who I am."

Both acting Quaid brothers, Dennis and Randy, are talented. How did they end up in the same business?
Vicki Mattingly, Norman, Okla.

"Our dad was a frustrated actor. He could do great impersonations," says Randy, 49, who tried his own impressions in Texas comedy clubs. He tells us neither he nor Dennis, 45, wanted to act until high school. Because he's older, Randy, who stars this Sunday in NBC's The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns, pursued the dream first; Dennis lived with him when it was his turn. Irish roots aside, Quaid doesn't believe in leprechauns. "There weren't many in Houston."

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THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS

NOV. 7: Jeremy and Jason London, 27.
NOV. 8: Courtney Thorne-Smith, 32; Bonnie Raitt, 50.
NOV. 9: Pepa, 30.
NOV. 10: Mackenzie Phillips, 40; Sinbad, 42.
NOV. 11: Leonardo DiCaprio, 25; Calista Flockhart, 35; Demi Moore, 37.
NOV. 12: Tevin Campbell, 23; Tonya Harding, 29; Sammy Sosa, 31; David Schwimmer, 33; Nadia Comaneci, 38; Neil Young, 54.
NOV. 13: Whoopi Goldberg, 50.

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