Clinton Moves to Quell New Controversy Over Jackson : Politics: Arkansas governor had reacted angrily--off-camera--to a false report that the civil rights leader had endorsed Harkin’s bid.

Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton on Thursday sought to quell a controversy involving his angry outburst over a false report that civil rights leader Jesse Jackson had endorsed a rival Democratic presidential candidate.

“It’s an outrage--a dirty, double-crossing, back-stabbing thing to do,” Clinton said late Wednesday, in what he thought was an off-camera conversation with an aide. However, the remarks were videotaped by Phoenix television station KTSP through a satellite hook-up to a Little Rock studio, where Clinton was conducting a series of campaign interviews. Clinton’s comments were broadcast throughout the nation Thursday morning.

Later, on the campaign trail in Colorado and Georgia, Clinton tried to focus attention on his differences with presidential rival Paul E. Tsongas. At a speech at the Radisson Hotel in Denver, Clinton dismissed Tsongas’ economic proposals as smacking of “trickle-down economics.” He mocked Tsongas’ concern for investors and entrepreneurs, saying it comes at the expense of everyday workers.

“The problem is not on Wall Street, friends; it’s on Main Street,” Clinton said. “Franklin Roosevelt didn’t get this country off its back by saying the only thing we have to fear is a lack of venture capital.”

Referring to Tsongas’ opposition to a tax cut for the middle class, he said: “I’m tired of what is cold-blooded being passed off as courage.”

Clinton’s comments about Jackson came after a South Carolina television reporter told him that the civil rights leader had endorsed Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin. His reaction was vigorous, punctuated by finger-pointing:

“For him to do this, for me to hear this on a television program, is an act of absolute dishonor. Everything he has bragged about, he has gushed to me about trust and trust and trust, and it’s a back-stabbing thing to do.”

The comments were picked up by the Phoenix station, which was waiting to interview Clinton.

The information was untrue; Jackson simply is scheduled to campaign with Harkin on Monday. Jackson, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, is neutral this year and has offered to campaign with all of the candidates. So far, Clinton is the only one who has not taken him up on the offer.

In an interview on Cable News Network, Jackson said he was disappointed and disturbed by Clinton’s remarks.

“I am disappointed with his overreaction without verification,” Jackson said. “I am disturbed by the tone of the blast at my integrity, my character. . . . I feel blindsided by what I saw and heard him say.” Later, Jackson said he would like to meet Clinton face to face to discuss the matter.

Clinton is counting heavily on the black vote in next Tuesday’s primaries in Georgia and Maryland. He told reporters he had telephoned Jackson to discuss the matter, a call that one source said came at 2 a.m. Thursday.

“I had a good talk with him . . . it’s fine between us,” Clinton said as he flew to a campaign appearance in Atlanta, where he was endorsed by Mayor Maynard Jackson, one of a string of black leaders whose support Clinton has courted. He said he would probably meet with the civil rights leader “pretty soon.”

“I didn’t fly off the handle, I just used strong words to describe how I felt at that moment,” he said.

The Clinton-Jackson incident came only a day after Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, a presidential rival and Vietnam War hero, attacked Clinton’s response to questions about his Vietnam-era draft status. Kerrey said the Republicans would exploit the issue, making the Arkansas governor not electable.

In 1969, Clinton secured a draft deferment after he said he would enlist in an ROTC program at the University of Arkansas. He subsequently gave up the deferment but was never drafted.

Clinton had resumed a full campaign schedule Thursday, hoping to focus attention on the differences between his economic plan and that of Tsongas. Clinton had stayed off the campaign trail earlier in the week as the Arkansas General Assembly debated a $15-million package to bail out the state’s child welfare system. The legislation was approved Thursday.

At a brief stop at the Atlanta airport, Clinton picked up the endorsements of Maynard Jackson and Jim Wiggins, a Georgia district attorney and Vietnam veteran. Wiggins denounced Kerrey’s attack on Clinton, calling it “insulting to everyone . . . who fought in the Vietnam War.” Then he complained that Kerrey has been “AWOL” in the war on drugs.

“It’s a good thing that Bob Kerrey has a good record on the Vietnam War,” Wiggins said. “Because he is not involved in fighting the war that we are currently in, the war on drugs.”

Kerrey, campaigning Thursday in Florida, got in a few digs of his own. He lambasted Clinton for suggesting that he did not support the Persian Gulf War after it began. Kerrey did vote against the prewar congressional resolution authorizing President Bush to use force against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.

Kerrey said Clinton himself has switched positions on the war. “He’s flopped around on that issue like a fish on a deck,” Kerrey said. “On Jan. 15, (1991) the day after the war vote itself, (Clinton) said, ‘I agree with the minority (in Congress who opposed the use of force).’ But, he said, ‘I probably would have voted for the war.’ I’d love to have a debate with Bill Clinton about the Persian Gulf War.”

Democratic primary voters go to the polls Tuesday in Georgia, where Clinton is leading, and in Maryland and Colorado, where he is trailing Tsongas. A week later, 10 states vote on Super Tuesday; that could determine a clear front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Georgia political observers were divided over whether the Jesse Jackson incident would hurt Clinton, particularly within in the black community.

“It’s another event that . . . focuses the attention on the candidate and not the issues,” one source said. “Obviously, Jackson has great support in Georgia. He won Georgia in 1988, and this would not help, I would think, in the black community. If the other candidates spring to Jackson’s defense, they could get some leverage out of it.

But Joseph Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said that both Clinton and the news media overreacted.

“Bill probably should have checked it out before reacting,” Lowery said, but added: “I still want to see where he plans to lead the country. Just because he and Jesse Jackson had a disagreement, I don’t think that’s going to affect intelligent voters. . . . Voters are more mature than that.”

Clinton is scheduled to travel today to Seattle, Los Angeles and Denver, then return to Georgia and Maryland before Tuesday’s vote.

Times staff writers Sonni Efron in Atlanta and Dave Lesher in Florida contributed to this story.