POLITICAL BRIEFING

AD ATTACK: Another vulnerable Republican senator, Bob Packwood of Oregon, is relying heavily on an expensive, hard-hitting ad campaign to win a fifth term. The ads hammer his Democratic foe, Rep. Les AuCoin, for having 81 overdrafts on the House bank. . . . Packwood, meanwhile, has taken heat for his caution in addressing a volatile ballot measure that would define homosexuality in Oregon’s constitution as “unnatural and perverse.” He declared his opposition to the measure last month, but only after time had run out for those backing it to mount a third-party Senate challenge. . . . A poll released late last week showed Packwood with an eight-percentage-point lead, but 21% of those surveyed were undecided. And 43% of the Packwood supporters said they still could change their mind.