WASHINGTON INSIGHT

EASTWARD HO: California Democrats are still plucking plum posts in the Clinton Administration. Sources say Patti Garamendi, a three-time loser in campaigns for the state Assembly, state Senate and Congress, looks to be a winner at the Peace Corps. Garamendi was once a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia with her husband, John, the California insurance commissioner. She is expected to take charge of recruiting and public relations at the agency started by former President John F. Kennedy. . . . M. Larry Lawrence, a San Diego hotel owner and big-bucks buddy of President Clinton, is a strong bet for ambassador to Switzerland. He and his wife, Sheila, were major fund-raisers in last year’s presidential campaign. For a time, Sheila was rumored to be in line for White House chief of protocol, triggering sales of T-shirts that depicted Crown Manor--the Lawrences’ home near Larry’s Hotel del Coronado--as the “Western White House.” But someone else got the job.