Mrs. Clinton Tells Support for Husband

There were questions about foreign policy, affirmative action and the demands of campaigning, but even an auditorium jammed with Los Angeles elementary school pupils on Thursday did not offer Hillary Clinton escape from the type of troublesome question that has plagued her husband’s presidential campaign.

“If you weren’t married to (Bill) Clinton, would you still support him, and why?” asked a sixth-grader from Windsor Hills Magnet School. It was a simple question that struck at the heart of the Arkansas governor’s so-called character problem. Allegations of marital infidelity, draft dodging and questionable business transactions have dogged the Clinton campaign.

“Yes, absolutely,” Hillary Clinton told the girl. “I know all of the good, I know all of the bad. . . . I know everything there is to know, and I am telling you I (would) support him, I (would) be working for him.”

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 infidelity are still being raised by the press in the general election, then the issue should be raised against President Bush also. Hillary Clinton replied curtly: “Mr. Brown’s statement speaks for itself.”

Hillary Clinton’s visit to Los Angeles--her fourth since her husband declared his candidacy last October--was a hurried mix of campaigning, photo opportunities and fund raising, capped by a $250-a-plate luncheon for 200 people 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 woman said as she clutched Clinton’s hand in an Olvera Street restaurant.

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

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

She added: “AIDS was not a major issue in Arkansas, it just wasn’t. . . . It is still an issue that, for many people in Arkansas, isn’t a front-burner issue like it is for Bill and me.”

Times staff writer Patt Morrison contributed to this story.