Undecided

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton used his weekly radio program the other day to make his case for the North American Free Trade Agreement. But the president's pitch earned little attention because the press focus remained on more compelling events in Haiti.There is now less than a month for the White House to gain enough votes in the House of Representatives to win approval for NAFTA, but the hurdles that must be passed are formidable. And one of them is the controversy over Clinton's policy toward Somalia, Bosnia and Haiti.

Despite nearly 50 years in politics, Comptroller William Donald Schaefer - the straight-shooting and irascible former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor - could be in for the fight of his political life as he seeks a third term as the state's chief tax collector, a new Sun poll suggests. With eight weeks to go before the September primary, the poll shows that three in 10 likely Democratic voters would support Schaefer if the election were held today and that his lesser-known opponents are in close pursuit.

Whether it will be built remains a question, but the much-debated intercounty connector highway between Montgomery and Prince George's counties locked up two important endorsements yesterday.A governor's advisory committee put finishing touches on a report recommending that the $1.1 billion highway be built, and Maryland's transportation secretary, John D. Porcari, added his support.Even if the state intensifies support for carpooling, telecommuting, express buses and other types of mass transit, "there's still a need for some kind of east-west road," Porcari said.

I HAVE to admit it. I'm one of those undecided voters everyone's talking about. And it's a little frightening. I feel like a wanted man. They're all after me. The pressure is on, and I simply can't make up my mind. But it's not for want of information. If anything, I feel as if I probably have too much of that. I know more about each candidate's plan for senior drug prescriptions and Medicare reform than I really want or care to know. I've read the newspaper, listened to public radio and religiously devoured every moment of the three 90-minute nationally televised debates.

Loyalists urged state Comptroller William Donald Schaefer not to run for re-election. And the urgings continue even now, though it's too late for his name to be removed from the Sept. 12 Democratic primary ballot. A series of recklessly impolitic public performances made him look vulnerable to a strong challenger - if not simply unfit for the demanding job. Others, led by lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano and former Gov. Marvin Mandel, urged him to stay. Intensely loyal to both men and loath to cut and run, Mr. Schaefer entered the race.

Ellen R. Sauerbrey continues to inch up on front-runner Helen Delich Bentley in the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination while Parris N. Glendening retains a seemingly insurmountable lead among Democrats, a poll released yesterday shows.Mrs. Bentley, the five-term congresswoman from Baltimore County, leads Mrs. Sauerbrey 45 percent to 32 percent in the poll of likely GOP voters in Tuesday's primary.But the gap has narrowed in the past week and a half from 17 percentage points to 13 percentage points, suggesting the race has become far more competitive than seemed likely in midsummer.

NBA stars undecided about OlympicsMichael Jordan and Patrick Ewing are undecided about whether they would accept invitations to be on the U.S. basketball team for next year's Olympics, the agent for the players said yesterday.The agent, David Falk, and the NBA denied a report in yesterday's Chicago Tribune that Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, and Ewing of the New York Knicks, turned down offers to play in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. That is the first year when NBA players will be eligible.

ST. BERNARD, Ohio -- Ed Ackell can come up with as many reasons to vote against George Bush as there are chili parlors in this working-class town just outside of Cincinnati. Even so, the industrial designer, an independent voter who supported Mr. Bush in 1988, can't seem to commit to Bill Clinton."I don't know enough about him right now," says Mr. Ackell, who remains an undecided voter leaning in the direction of the Arkansas governor. "He's got to give me more nuts and bolts."In the conservative, working-class and middle-class towns that circle Cincinnati -- one of the battleground areas of this election, where both presidential candidates recently made campaign stops and where the Democrat aired TV ads late last week -- the election has come down to getting to know Bill Clinton.

DURHAM, N.H. - Howard Dean's fading presidential fortunes will be at the center of attention tonight as the 2004 Democratic candidates hold their final debate before the New Hampshire primary. Sen. John Kerry, the victor in Monday's Iowa caucuses, and retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark are likely to receive heightened scrutiny in the two-hour TV forum. Kerry has zoomed past Dean in polling here, while Clark, who skipped the past three debates, is also in contention. Sen. John Edwards, the runner-up in Iowa, and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, who has concentrated on this state, will also be attempting to sway undecided voters in a climate that remains volatile, five days before the election.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton engaged in fierce "hand-to-hand combat" with opponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement yesterday for the support of the few dozen lawmakers whose votes will decide the fate of the controversial pact tomorrow.As both Democratic and Republican members of Congress shuttled in and out of the White House for some last-minute back-slapping and arm-twisting, Mr. Clinton's aides expressed increasing confidence that he would win the crucial ballot in the House of Representatives tomorrow evening.