Reality Intrudes on a Dream : Tsongas suspends his improbable but thoughtful campaign for the presidency

Suddenly the presidential field has lost a little class. Improbable as his candidacy had sometimes seemed, Paul E. Tsongas, on the whole, enhanced the debate. He was fond of saying he wasn’t Santa Claus, but he was the bearer of welcome thoughts in a quadrennial ritual that tends to be little more than one competing Christmas tree of promises after the other. He offered ideas that had content, proposals that were often solid, and an almost nerdy manner that suggested that however it was he had gotten as far as he had in this life, it was not a consequence of any excess of talent for glibness. But Thursday, pointing to campaign financing problems in the wake of Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton’s impressive triumphs in Illinois and Michigan, the former Massachusetts senator packed it in.

That decision deeply disappointed his supporters. No doubt many of them, reflecting on the campaign of former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., felt that the wrong challenger had dropped out. But the decision elated not only the Clinton camp, which saw the nomination prize move ever closer, but also Democratic Party leaders, who are eager for the focus to shift to the general election, where they believe George Bush can be taken. The call to unite around front-runner Clinton--a cry that Brown rejects--is now likely to become the Democratic order of the day.

One hopes that the Democrats will not quickly forget about Tsongas. Especially his ideas on government’s need for proactive industrial policies. And his common-sense candor about how much, or rather how little, Washington can do to solve every problem. And his call for leaders to transcend pandering to the loudest-mouthed interest groups.

There now seems little between Bill Clinton and the Democratic nomination, except Bill Clinton. The rumors and character questions seem never to go away. Still, give this candidate his due: Many thought he would not emerge from the New Hampshire primary with his candidacy, not to mention his dignity, intact. But he did. That was evident Tuesday night when the primary results started to come in. And that was evident Thursday when his rival Tsongas so gracefully bowed out.