‘I Know All,’ Mrs. Clinton Tells L.A. Pupil

The wife of Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton, on a one-day campaign stop in Los Angeles, assured an audience of 5th and 6th graders Thursday that she would support her husband’s campaign even if they were not married.

“I know all of the good, I know all of the bad,” Hillary Clinton told an inquiring pupil at Windsor Hills Magnet School, whose simple one-sentence question struck at the heart of the Arkansas governor’s so-called character problem.

“I know everything there is to know,” Hillary Clinton said, “and I am telling you, I (would) support him, I (would) be working for him” even if she were not his wife.

Later, at a short news conference in the school’s auditorium, Hillary Clinton was asked if she agreed with Democratic Party Chairman Ronald H. Brown, who said Wednesday that if questions about her husband’s alleged marital infidelity are still being raised by the press in the general election, the issue also should be raised against President Bush. Hillary Clinton replied curtly: “Mr. Brown’s statement speaks for itself.”

Hillery Clinton’s brief visit to Los Angeles--her fourth since her husband declared his candidacy last October--included a hurried mix of campaigning, photo opportunities and fund-raising, capped by a $250-per-plate luncheon for 200 at the Regency Club.

At nearly every stop, Clinton, a nationally respected attorney and children’s rights activist, faced questions about her own political ambition.

“You should be running for president!” one Latina woman said as she clutched Clinton’s hand in an Olvera Street restaurant.

“We’re a good team,” Clinton replied graciously.

Asked about her possible future role as First Lady, Clinton said she would not hesitate to speak out on issues or offer her husband advice.

“I intend to be involved,” she said. “There is nothing behind the scenes about me. What I believe is what I will say.”

Clinton began her day with a hard-hitting speech at a breakfast meeting in the Crenshaw District. “The greatest disservice George Bush has done to this country is to denigrate and deride the idea of vision,” she said. “If you go back and you read Isaiah: ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’ And I am telling you folks, today in America, there is no vision.”

She also toured the headquarters of Aids Project Los Angeles. Afterward, one man asked her about charges that Arkansas had no funding for AIDS programs until 1990. “I don’t know whether it’s true . . . but I know we have it now,” she said.

Times staff writer Patt Morrison contributed to this story.