Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) may as well can his book publicist. His wife, Sen. Elizabeth Dole (N.C.), chairwoman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is doing a fine job of selling his new book herself.

The NRSC blasted an e-mail to supporters Friday touting Bob Dole’s book, “One Soldier’s Story,” and publicizing his scheduled book signings. [IMGCAP(1)]

“MEET BOB DOLE!” the e-mail, complete with a photo of the former Senator, exclaimed. To the left of

the photo, the e-mail gives you an opportunity to “Order your copy today” and provides a link to HarperCollins Publishers, where supporters can review the book and find an online bookstore where it lists for $23.95.

The NRSC points out that it has no affiliation with the publisher “or www.bobdole.org and receives no proceeds from the sale of Sen. Dole’s book.”

Bob Dole will be reaping those proceeds. And we bet he’ll be sharing them with his wife!

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s spokesman, Phil Singer, was outraged over the NRSC e-mail hawking Dole’s book. “What next? An e-mail touting the virtues of Viagra?” he asked.

Where Are They Now? In case you’ve been wondering, actress Jeri Ryan seems very happy back in Los Angeles running a sleek, elegant restaurant.

Ryan, of course, is the ex-wife of the allegedly kinky 2004 Illinois Senate candidate, Jack Ryan, who bowed out of the race after court records revealed his penchant for sex clubs. Jeri Ryan had accused her former husband of pressuring her to visit sex clubs, charges the Senate candidate denied.

A sci-fi sex symbol who starred in “Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force” and “Star Trek: Voyager” (and let’s not forget “Co-ed Call Girl”), Jeri Ryan appears to have recovered from the trauma of her ex-husband’s disastrous Senate race. She and her new boyfriend co-own L.A.’s exquisite contemporary French restaurant Ortolan, where a former Roll Call scribe dined recently, drooling over both his food and Ryan.

“She greets all the diners at her restaurant warmly, and graciously checks in with them during the meal to see if everything is OK,” according to the informant, who left journalism. “I can highly recommend the scallop and prosciutto appetizer” (which he could not have afforded if he still worked at Roll Call).

Our source, who described Ryan as “hot,” contemplated the fates of everyone who got mixed up in the sordid Illinois Senate race: “Just think, if Jeri had gone into those sex clubs and the marriage had survived, the Barack Obama Express may have been derailed, and L.A.’s dining scene would be a bit poorer.”

Alan Keyes has not yet been spotted at the Third Street hangout.

Thune’s Masters Moment. An anti-Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) blog reported last week that the Senator was spotted near the 17th green on Sunday of the Masters golf tournament earlier this month, standing “next to controversial pitcher John Rocker.”

The blog provided a link to a 1999 CNN/Sports Illustrated story about the former Atlanta Braves pitcher’s foul mouth and outrageous slurs against women, gays and, as the blog put it, “anyone of another race.”

The way it read, you would have thought Thune and Rocker were best buds, palling around at the Masters, celebrating their privilege as white men as is the tradition at Augusta.

The source who provided the account to Thunewatch.com also called HOH. He said he saw Thune standing near the fairway at the 17th green holding court with several men about “20 years his senior” as Tiger Woods was coming down the fairway. Rocker was about 15 feet away, holding court with the younger set.

How did Thune score the hottest ticket in sports? His spokesman, Alex Conant, said the Senator was “in the area” for a GOP event the night before and attended the last day of the tournament with friends from South Dakota.

And he wasn’t hanging out with Rocker, Conant assured us. “Thune was watching golfers, not ballplayers,” he said.

Kennedy Sides With House GOP. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) got really riled up on the floor of the Senate on Thursday, speaking passionately about the urgent need to provide troops in Iraq with more uparmored humvees.

A very animated Kennedy shook a Government Accountability Office report over his head as he decried the lack of uparmored humvees, leaving troops at risk.

As Kennedy railed on, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) interrupted him, asking for 10 seconds for what turned out to be the funniest question on the Senate floor in a while.

“I ask the Senator,” Domenici said, “Is this the first time the Senator from Massachusetts has been for something that the Republican House of Representatives is for?”

“That is a good question,” Kennedy said, laughing. “I think I can think back and maybe find one. I will think back and find one,” he added, sitting down.

Suddenly, Kennedy jumped back to his feet and shouted, “Saint Patrick’s Day address!”

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) got the last word: “I say to our colleague from New Mexico with reference to the House, even a broken clock is right twice a day. So there is a first time for everything.”

Please send your hot tips, juicy gossip or comments to hoh@rollcall.com.