Bernice Harris is back tending the till in the Senate coffee shop. She quit last week rather than be transferred when a part-time Senate staffer complained because she called him "baby." It's an endearment Harris, 58, has used indiscriminately for much of her 31 years as a Senate employee. After an outpouring of support, she returned with an admonition to cut the sweet talk. "I'm biting my tongue," she said yesterday, "but it's real hard, I tell you. Some of {the senators}, they told me, just whisper it to me, baby."

The emissary was Steve Rendell of the liberal group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), and his target was conservative radio host Bob Grant, whom the group has accused of having a history of racist remarks. When [Christopher] Darden got to the studio, Grant told him what an "honor" it was to interview him. But Darden quickly turned the tables.

Grant, who broadcasts from WABC in New York, recently took similar flak from Simpson defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who called Grant a "bigot" on his new syndicated radio show. WABC officials promptly dropped Dershowitz's show from the station's New York lineup.