Kerrey

Sen. Bob Kerrey is being considered as a potential running mate for Gov. Bill Clinton. But he probably won't be selected. And the reason, if true, seems unfair.It has been reported that Clinton would like the Democratic convention to end with himself and wife Hillary standing on the stage next to running mate and running mate's wife.This makes for good family television, with the two happy couples waving, the lights flashing, the music blaring, and the delegates joyously cheering -- or at least trying to look interested.

Iowa's Sen. Tom Harkin and Nebraska's Sen. Bob Kerrey, both of whom have now dropped out of the presidential race, had a lot in common. Both are from sparsely populated Midwestern farm states. Both have relatively liberal voting records. And both voted themselves a hefty pay raise in the now infamous sneak late night roll call last summer. That spectacle -- which so emphasized their "Washington-ness" -- probably hurt them more than their liberal voting records.But make no mistake about it, their liberalism hurt.

DALLAS -- There was a bit of irony in the timing of Sen. Bob Kerrey's announcement that he was ending his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. It came only hours before he was to take part in another debate here, and Kerrey's performance in the debates was one of the high points of his campaign.In most of them, the Nebraska senator was lively and combative without being offensive, drawing out the others candidates on positions which with which he disagreed and forcefully and feelingly making the case for the one issue on which he managed to identify himself -- national health insurance.

WASHINGTON -- Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, the presidential candidate who seemed to have it all heading into the campaign, wistfully bowed out of the race yesterday, telling supporters he'd been too late in clinching one vital ingredient: a connection with voters.With a good-natured ease, warmth and humor that often eluded him on the campaign trail, he told a roomful of cheering, sometimes teary-eyed supporters and Senate colleagues: ". . . after Tuesday I feel a little like the Jamaican bobsled team.

IN CASE anyone had any doubt, the Maryland presidential primary elections demonstrated once again that all politics are local.Beyond the presidential candidates themselves, their issues, consultants, spin doctors and campaign groupies loom the loyal foot soldiers of any campaign -- the local bosses, bosslets and precinct organizations.At their loftiest, presidential primaries are celebrations of democracy in action. But more to the point, the bi-elections are important conditioning exercises for precinct organizations and mid-level political apparatchiks as well as those seeking political advancement.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, the Vietnam War hero who plunged into the presidential race almost on impulse last year, decided yesterday to withdraw after running out of money and votes, campaign sources said.The first of the five major Democratic candidates to abandon the chase, Mr. Kerrey appears to be acknowledging that his one-note platform on national health insurance and the fuzziness of his overall message simply failed to stir voter passions.Mr. Kerrey returned to Washington yesterday after canceling appearances in Florida and on CNN's "Larry King Live."

DENVER -- It was bound to happen, but for a while there it appeared that the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination might stay on the high road. After all, all the Democrats were working overtime reminding voters of Willie Horton and warning them to be on the lookout for more of the same from George Bush this year. Certainly they would not take the low road and deprive themselves of a juicy issue.Alas, it was all too good to be true. Not that any of the Democrats has now stooped to the level of the Willie Horton caper of 1988.

WASHINGTON -- When Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, a Vietnam War hero, announced his candidacy, one top Democratic National Committee member said, "Let's talk about patriotism with the Republicans this time!"When Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin joined the Democratic field, college students in Minnesota, stealing a line from political writer David Broder, sported T-shirts with Mr. Harkin's picture saying, "George Bush's Worst Nightmare."But yesterday, with the presidential fortunes of Mr. Kerrey and Mr. Harkin fading fast, the question was whether they could remain in the race at all.After earning single digits in Georgia, Maryland and Colorado, Mr. Harkin was in danger of losing his federal matching funds.

ATLANTA -- Bob Kerrey's decision to play the draft evasion card against Bill Clinton here suggests that the Nebraska Democrat subscribes to the view of Adlai E. Stevenson a generation ago that "the first duty of a politician is to get elected."It is the issue that gives Kerrey the best chance to establish himself as the prime alternative to Clinton in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.Kerrey has said out loud what political professionals in both parties have been saying privately ever since the questions were raised about Clinton's personal life and his history of avoiding the draft in the war in Vietnam -- that there is at least a valid question as to whether those issues might sink him against President Bush in November.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton came out swinging at his Democratic rivals yesterday, accusing Paul E. Tsongas of advocating "trickle-down economics" and bringing in a Vietnam veteran to accuse Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey of being "AWOL" in the war on drugs.At a speech at the Radisson Hotel in Denver in the morning, Mr. Clinton dismissed former Massachusetts Sen. Tsongas' economic proposals as smacking of "trickle-down economics." He mocked Mr. Tsongas' concern for investors and entrepreneurs, saying it comes at the expense of everyday workers.