By The Associated Press

          WASHINGTON (AP) -- Even some veteran Castro bashers cringed at
          the pictures of Elian Gonzalez clutching a subpoena in front of his little
          face as a Miami relative held him aloft.

          They seemed to border on child exploitation, one leader in the
          congressional effort to keep 6-year-old Cuban refugee in this country
          suggested privately.

          The tug of war over the boy clearly has become fodder for political
          speeches and congressional inquiries. Elian's fresh face and harrowing
          story have struck a chord with Americans.

          He was plucked from the Atlantic on Nov. 25 after clinging to an inner
          tube for two days. His mother and 10 other Cubans died when their boat
          capsized as they fled Cuba.

          ``This is the cutest kid imaginable, and he's dealing with forces that most
          adults couldn't handle,'' said University of Virginia political scientist Larry
          Sabato. ``This has a resonance that few political issues do.''

          And what election-year politician has ever won votes by siding with Fidel
          Castro, Cuba's communist president -- especially in electoral vote-rich
          Florida?

          Republican presidential candidates quickly criticized the Immigration and
          Naturalization Service ruling that required Elian's return to his father in
          Cuba. So has Democrat Bill Bradley.

          Vice President Al Gore, struggling not to be branded with the ruling,
          questioned whether INS officials had the ``experience and expertise''
          necessary.

          The INS ruling, issued late last week, said Elian would be returned to
          Cuba by this Friday.

          Trying to buy time, Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., chairman of the House
          Government Reform Committee, issued a subpoena -- the one Elian was
          photographed clutching -- requiring the child's appearance at a Feb. 10
          hearing.

          Then, a state judge in Miami on Monday awarded Elian's Florida
          relatives emergency custody and scheduled a March 6 guardianship
          hearing.

          The INS deadline has thus been circumvented for now, although the
          ruling remains in place.

          Republicans and some Democrats on Capitol Hill are lining up to support
          legislation to grant Elian full U.S. citizenship.

          Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., the prime sponsor, said the most immediate
          impact would be to remove INS' jurisdiction. ``The issue then becomes a
          custody issue rather than an immigration issue,'' Mack said in an
          interview.

          In the meantime, Mack and other lawmakers are urging Attorney General
          Janet Reno not to intervene at least until after the March hearing before
          the state court.

          Some lawmakers are talking about giving Elian's father and other Cuban
          family members resident status. Still others want to haul INS officials
          before congressional panels to explain their thinking, and Burton has said
          he will force them to explain if they send away the boy before the court
          acts.

          Is Elian being exploited for political purposes? Will he be paraded before
          congressional hearings or displayed in the visitor's gallery at the State of
          the Union address?

          ``Anything is possible,'' Mack said. But he said he doubted there would
          brazen efforts to put the child in the spotlight given his age, and Burton's
          spokesman, Mark Corallo, has said the congressman doesn't expect to
          compel the boy to appear.

          Democratic pollster Mark Mellman doesn't see the issue as being
          dominant in the presidential race, except perhaps in Florida with its large,
          politically active Cuban-American community.

          More than 900,000 Cuban-born people are in the United States, among
          them 474,000 naturalized citizens, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

          In 1980, about 80 percent of Florida's Cuban exiles voted for
          Republican Ronald Reagan, and in 1984, 88 percent voted to keep him
          in office. In 1988, 82 percent voted for Republican George Bush, and in
          1992, 70 percent voted to keep him in office. But in 1996, only 58
          percent voted for Republican Bob Dole.

          Still, Mellman suggested that Florida is a difficult target for Democrats at
          best.

          ``Everyone would like to think Florida's in play. But if Gov. Jeb Bush
          can't deliver Florida to the other Governor Bush (George W. Bush), then
          the campaign is in more trouble than we thought,'' Mellman said.

          Mellman said that, while there are valid arguments on both sides of the
          issue, those who feel Elian should be returned to his father aren't as
          outspoken as ``those people who think he should stay, who feel very
          deeply about it.''

          Efforts to keep the boy in this country have been opposed by some
          children's advocacy and church groups -- and questioned by legal
          scholars and experts on child custody.

          But such arguments aren't the stuff of congressional press releases or
          speeches.

          ``This child's mother died bringing him to freedom. It makes a mockery
          of her death to return him,'' said Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J.

          ------

          EDITOR'S NOTE -- Tom Raum covers national and international
          affairs for The Associated Press.