Clinton forming panel to test presidential bid

Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton announced Thursday he is forming apresidential exploratory committee and said he will decide next monthwhether to run for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination.

"I want to make it clear that I have not made a decision as towhether to seek the nomination," Clinton said in a statement issuedby his office in Little Rock, Ark. "But forming an exploratorycommittee will give me a means to look into this in a lot more detailand get the kind of information I need to consider it right now."

Clinton also said he had resigned as chairman of the DemocraticLeadership Council, the organization of moderate Democrats that heused to prod the Democratic Party to recast its image and that hasprovided him with a base for traveling around the country in the lastyear.

At a press conference, Clinton said that under President Bush'sleadership, there is "no national vision, no national partnership, nonational direction, no national policy" to confront the country'scrucial problems.

"I really believe that being a governor gives me a uniqueperspective, because I have to go to bat every day and succeed andfail on the problems that really are . . . central to our country'sfuture."

The five-term governor, who turns 45 next week, said if thepresidential election were held now, Bush would win. "But nobody hasmade the alternative case in a long time," he said.

Most of his advisers believe he will join the contest for theDemocratic nomination, but four years ago he got to the brink ofannouncing his candidacy and then decided not to run.

His announcement came a week after Sen. John D. "Jay"Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) backed away from a presidential bid,disappointing Democrats who saw him as a potentially strong contenderfor the nomination.

The only announced Democratic presidential candidate is formerMassachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas. Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilderformed an exploratory committee earlier this year and is expected tomake a decision on a candidacy next month. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)has established a somewhat less formal "testing the waters" committeebut has been moving forward aggressively and is expected to launchhis campaign in mid-September.

Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.), who ran unsuccessfully in 1988,is in the throes of a final decision on a candidacy. The Rev. JesseL. Jackson, who ran in 1984 and 1988, must soon decide whether toforego the 1992 race in favor of a new television talk show.