From: clarinews@clarinet.com (JEFF BATER)
Newsgroups: clari.news.election,clari.news.politics,biz.clarinet.sample,clari.news.top
Subject: Candidates stump as primaries loom
Keywords: election, politics, political parties
Date: 6 Apr 92 20:58:46 GMT
Followup-To: biz.clarinet.sample
ACategory: washington
Slugword: politics
Priority: major
Format: regular
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Note: (complete writethru -- new quotes; details)


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	Democratic candidates Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown, looking over
their shoulders at Paul Tsongas, lashed at each other and then backed
off personal attacks Monday on the eve of the crucial New York primary
and contests in Kansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
	President Bush, shunning the campaign trail, opened the baseball
season by throwing out the first ball at a major-league game in
Baltimore, while conservative challenger Patrick Buchanan swung through
the Midwest.
	The wild card in the Democrats' bid for the White House is Tsongas,
who dropped out of the campaign last month citing a lack of money but
has hinted he may re-enter the race and is due to announce his
intentions Wednesday.
	Brown and Clinton appeared on the NBC ``Today'' program, squaring off
against each other but then taped a ``Donahue'' show in New York and
laid off the personal attacks that have come to mark their contest for
the Democratic nomination.
	Both candidates stress the need for change in the Oval Office.
	``The Democratic Party is about to be transformed into an engine for
change at the national level,'' Clinton said. ``The question is, who has
the better ideas?''
	On ``Today,'' Brown said the real issue is ``who is really
representing change,'' and accused Clinton of being ``a product of the
failing status quo in the (Democratic) Party, in the Congress.''
	``And playing in a ... whites-only golf club is a product of the old-
boy network,'' Brown added, referring to the Arkansas governor's
membership in a country club that caters to whites.
	Clinton retorted, ``Jerry Brown knows I'm not a racist.''
	During the taping of ``Donahue,'' both candidates recited their
reasons for running for president and then Brown said, ``I guess, Bill,
it's up to us to keep it moving along.''
	Compared with the frenetic pace and the personal nature of their
campaigns and earlier debate appearances, the Donahue appearance was
almost a love-in.
	They discussed the environment, the economy, AIDS and health care.
Missing were the charges heavy with racial overtones, infidelity and
draft dodging.
	Clinton is leading the race for the Democratic nomination as the
candidates go into Tuesday's primary in New York state, second only to
California in number of delegates.
	Brown turns 54 Tuesday and is hoping voters will give him a birthday
present. The former California governor again hammered on the theme that
he is an alternative to the ``corruption'' of politicians in Congress
and the White House.
	``I'm not saying the Democrats would do the best possible job,''
Brown told reporters. ``I'm saying the system is corrupt -- it's
corrupted by the $1,000 donations, the insiders, the lobbyists, the
complacency, and the only way to break it open is for someone who is not
dependent, not beholden on the same insider pattern of control, to take
over.''
	Tsongas's name is still on the ballot. Volunteers toiled to pull in
votes for him despite his non-candidacy, and the former Massachusetts
senator was endorsed by a major Wisconsin newspaper, The Milwaukee
Sentinel.
	A Wisconsin group called ``Tcitizens to draft Tsongas'' bought radio
and television ads that aired Monday to lure in votes for him.
	Republican candidate Buchanan visited Wisconsin and then returned to
Minnesota to stump for votes in his weak challenge to Bush.
	Vice President Dan Quayle made the rounds in Milwaukee on behalf of
his boss, who opted to go to the Baltimore Orioles' new baseball stadium
and throw out the ceremonial first pitch to open the 1992 professional
baseball season.
	The left-handed Bush, a former Yale first baseman, was greeted with a
mixture of cheers and boos that turned to laughter when his first pitch
bounced in the dirt, inches in front of catcher Chris Hoiles.
	A senior administration official said Buchanan is almost out of the
picture in the presidential race.
	``He won't get the nomination,'' the official said, adding, ``We took
his candidacy seriously enough to go out and campaign.''
	He offered a wary prediction of victory. ``I think we have a good
agenda out. We're not taking anything for granted. It will be a tough
race.''
                                ---
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