My primary job is political punditry, but my shtick - the special interest that helps me break out of the pundit pack of happy haranguers - is language.

FOUR MORE YEARS: In the world of high-end political punditry, a star was born this fall.

Artistic solidarity prevailed over political punditry: the Balanchine Trust licensed "Ballo" to the Ballet Nacional for free.

Except maybe for Huckabee, the Andy Griffith/Gomer Pyle/Roy Acuff of political punditry.

But political punditry seems completely clueless about the state of American marriage.

The gods of political punditry are smiling.

In the political punditry dodge, you have to stay ahead of the contrarian pack.

"Now, tonight, we can perhaps write the obituary of conventional political punditry in America."

To the Editor: Your article bemoaning the intractability of the electorate ("The Melting-Pot Politics of 2000 Are Truly Soupy," Week in Review, Feb. 13) points up a major shortcoming with current political punditry, one that is evident in the published results of most exit polls.

Politicians, news media, members of the political punditry, academics, and other groups and individuals quickly weighed in on its significance and effectiveness.