POLITICAL BRIEFING

FAVORITE TARGETS: The five major Democratic presidential candidates have disagreed over how much blame to assign the Japanese for U.S. economic woes, but they have been unanimous in criticizing another group: U.S. auto executives.

Former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas has been especially forceful in criticizing the executives, saying that unlike the Japanese, they have failed to adequately invest in their companies because of a misguided concern for quarterly results. “All they think about is the short-term profit,” he said recently.

In other recent comments, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton opined that in light of their industry’s failings, the auto makers were the wrong business leaders to accompany President Bush on his recent trip to Japan. And former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. said that someone needs to tell the American auto makers to “chop your salary down to the level enjoyed by (Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Eiji) Toyoda . . . and design me a better car.”