Clinton Attracts Much Attention Across the South : Campaign: As a moderate and native son, the Arkansas governor fits the mold many envisioned when they created delegate rich Super Tuesday.

When Linda Hatch reads the polls for several Southern states, she notices her favorite Democratic presidential candidate trailing. When she hears others talk about whom they are supporting, as often as not it is Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton they are discussing.

Hatch, a financial planner in Austin, Tex., and a supporter of Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, is baffled that so many Southern Democrats seem to be paying so much attention to Clinton without considering other potential challengers to President Bush.

“Democrats want the White House so bad, it’s not the issues they are concerned most about any more,” Hatch said. “It is the candidate that they believe will win.”

In fact, Clinton’s appeal in the South--the key battlefield after New Hampshire’s Feb. 18 primary--extends beyond the “electability” argument, the view that he could run the strongest general election campaign against Bush.

As a political moderate and native son, he fits the mold many white Southern Democrats envisioned in 1988 when they moved to maximize their influence by organizing what almost amounts to a regionwide primary on a single day.

The region’s favorite son four years ago, Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr., struggled on what came to be known as Super Tuesday. The Rev. Jesse Jackson attracted the region’s large black vote, and then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis used his financial advantage to gain victories in Florida and Texas. Gore won a large chunk of the day’s convention delegates, but not enough to derail Dukakis.

Contingent on one big “if”--the outcome of the New Hampshire primary--Clinton appears better positioned to take full advantage of this year’s Super Tuesday, which falls on March 10. Seven of the 11 primaries or caucuses being held that day are in Southern or border states, including the two biggest prizes--Florida and Texas.

Clinton not only has the regional roots and campaign message expected to appeal to many Southern Democrats, he is much better organized and financed than any of his rivals. The lack of a black candidate in this year’s race also seems likely to aid Clinton.

Even as allegations about his personal life captured wide media attention last month, the Arkansas governor found extraordinarily large and diverse support from Democratic leaders in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, including many of the black elected officials who supported Jackson in 1988.

“Of those I’ve heard, he seems to have the most promise for our nation,” said Mississippi State Rep. Alyce Clarke, who backed Jackson four years ago.

There remains a flip side to part of Clinton’s appeal: Some of those voters now flocking to his banner may be just as quick to flee if his campaign falters. A loss in New Hampshire could send many Southern Democrats scurrying to other camps, or at least cause them to rethink their support for Clinton.

An early test of Clinton’s strength in the South will come in the days leading up to Super Tuesday. On March 3 and 7, voters will cast their ballots in primaries in Georgia and South Carolina, respectively.

In Georgia, Clinton has moved aggressively to demonstrate substantial strength among political insiders, winning endorsements from Gov. Zell Miller, Sen. Sam Nunn and black Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights pioneer.

He has won similar backing in some of the Super Tuesday states. In Louisiana, Clinton is the announced choice of much of the state’s political leadership, ranging from moderate Sen. John B. Breaux to the state’s leading black politicians.

In Texas, Clinton won a virtually unanimous endorsement from the state Mexican-American Democrats group, and he recently announced a committee of supporters that ranged from Gib Lewis, the conservative Speaker of Texas’ House of Representatives, to state Sen. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a fiery black liberal.

Local observers say Clinton has been able to weld together such diverse support by blending moderate positions pleasing to white Democrats--such as support for the death penalty and the use of force in last year’s war against Iraq--with a populist vision of activist government attractive to minorities. Wrapping together this package is the argument that the Democrats need to look South for a winning candidate.

“People in (the Democratic) party have traditionally assumed you didn’t have to exercise pragmatism in the early part of a campaign,” said Rodney Ellis, a Texas state senator and Clinton supporter. “The conventional thinking was that there would be time later on down the road to rally behind a candidate that might win. But that’s not the case anymore.”

Still, for some blacks who consider themselves most faithful to Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition and its progressive agenda, Clinton’s views on the death penalty and right to work labor laws are proving too conservative for them to embrace.

“How could anyone who supports the Rainbow Coalition and Jesse Jackson support Mr. Clinton,” said Joe Beasley, Georgia state chairman of the Rainbow Coalition. “There are opportunists out there who are going with Mr. Clinton because he’s the front-runner, not because they believe he’s the best person for what they actually believe.”

Times staff writer Ronald Brownstein contributed to this story.