FOLEY'S BACON BITS CATCHING FIRE

MaybeTom Foley, who's been trailing a neophyte GOP challenger by as many as 19 points, can't be written off as the first sitting House Speaker to be dumped in 134 years after all. The latest poll in his eastern Washington district, published Sunday in the Spokane Spokesman-Review, found Foley had climbed to within two points of Republican George Nethercutt, 44-46. With the error margin, it's a dead heat. The poll follows Foley's newest strategy: reminding Spokane-area residents that the pork stops if he loses. BTW: Foley's message might be sinking in: a recent poll that found 30 percent of the district's voters thought a freshman Nethercutt would become House Speaker if he won.