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Clinton also said she hoped Juan Miguel Gonzalez would remain with his son in this country. “I hope that this taste of freedom and the opportunity to be with his son and to have this time perhaps would lead to that,” she said at a town hall meeting broadcast by CNN. “But at the end of the day this has to be the father’s decision.” Although the appearance is not likely to create any new headlines, Clinton did stay 40 minutes beyond the broadcast to take additional questions from the audience. She said she was “troubled and concerned” by recent shooting incidents involving the New York City police department and conceded that her position on guns was not very different from that of her rival, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Clinton was asked if Palestinians who lost their land to Israel should be given reparations, but replied only that she was a “strong supporter of Israel’s safety and security and a strong supporter of peace.” When she was then asked about her previous call for a Palestinian state, she said “I expressed a personal opinion.” Reform Endorsement?  Meanwhile, Clinton said earlier that she had not decided if she would attend a Senate forum on Saturday to make a play for the nomination of New York’s arm of the Reform Party. The first lady cited scheduling issues and indicated she would address the topic later. Attendance at Saturday’s event is all but a prerequisite for endorsement by the Independence Party, the New York branch of the national Reform Party and the largest of New York’s minor parties. Giuliani is slated to speak at the forum Saturday afternoon and met with a party leader, Frank MacKay, on Monday. However, a ruling by the state Supreme Court this afternoon, reinstating Jack Essenberg as Independence Party chairman, has added another layer of doubt to the nominating process. On Monday, MacKay said attendance at the Senate forum was a must for any candidate seeking the Independence nomination. But today Essenberg said it would not be a “do or die” matter for candidates. Buchanan A Problem A drawback for Mrs. Clinton, if nominated by the Independence Party, is that she would likely appear on the same ticket as Pat Buchanan, the staunchly conservative former Republican presidential candidate who figures to be the Reform party presidential nominee this time around. When asked about Buchanan in general terms today, the first lady said she had “very big differences with him on nearly every issue… I have a problem with Pat Buchanan.” Talking to reporters at his City Hall press conference this afternoon, Giuliani expressed reservations about Buchanan as well, saying he had “problems with him and problems with his background.” Some of those advising Mrs. Clinton nonetheless favor pursuing the nomination, seeing it as a bridge not only to the party’s 172,000 registered voters, but also to New York’s 2.2 million independents, voters unaffiliated with any party who figure to be a key in this fiercely partisan battle. Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer won more than 100,000 votes on the Independent Party line in 1998. However, others advisers within the campaign have indicated that they do not want the contest for the third-party nod to turn into a de facto “primary” with Giuliani. Third-party nominations are valuable in New York because votes cast on those ballot lines still count toward the overall totals of major-party candidates. — Peter Dizikes and Eileen A. Murphy Debates on Tap Rudolph Giuliani and Hillary Rodham Clinton have agreed in principle to two televised debates this fall, their campaigns announced today. Dates for the debates are still being settled, but the first is expected to take place in September, the second in October. One will be shown on NBC, and the other will be televised on ABC affiliates and co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters. At his press briefing this afternoon, Giuliani said he has always agreed in principle to “participate in debates if they could organize them.” A statement released by Mrs. Clinton’s campaign said she “looks forward to a full exchange of ideas” with Giuliani. —Peter Dizikes and Stephen Yesner |
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  George W. Bush likes to say he’ll do for the rest of the country what he has done in Texas. But will he be able to bring Congress together they way he says he has united the Texas Legislature?  |
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