Attack Ad Fuels Blast by Brown : Democrats: He calls Clinton the ‘prince of sleaze’ for airing spot questioning his stand on abortion rights.

Infuriated by a negative ad briefly aired by Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton’s campaign, former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. on Saturday blasted his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination as “the prince of sleaze.”

Speaking to an outdoor rally of several thousand on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Brown said of Clinton: “He’s always smiling and saying: ‘Ah, don’t attack, don’t get negative.’ Yet, just before an election, on the last weekend, he unleashes a viscous attack.”

He added: “Mr. Clinton, I think your nose is getting a little too long. People aren’t fooled by this kind of sleazy campaign.”

At another point, in front of a popular Harlem soul food restaurant, Brown called Clinton a “hypocrite” who is “the prince of sleaze.”

And later, walking down the sidewalk and talking into television cameras, Brown said: “He is a fraud. He’ll destroy the Democratic Party. I’ll do everything I can to give people a real, authentic choice.”

Brown’s ire was sparked in part by a Clinton ad that questioned Brown’s commitment to abortion rights. The ad used past Brown quotations out of context and ignored the fact that Brown has not wavered from supporting the right to abortion as public policy.

Clinton on Friday ordered the ad pulled from the air after reporters challenged him about them. On Saturday, he expressed outrage upon hearing of Brown’s “prince of sleaze” comment.

“I think he’s just lashing out like a child at the end of the campaign,” Clinton said.

Brown, as he campaigned Saturday, seemed to have given up relying primarily on his basic message of political reform. Sensing that a possible victory may be slipping away as he increasingly becomes the focus of a public microscope, Brown stepped up his efforts to discredit Clinton and raise doubts about the Arkansas governor’s electability against President Bush.

Brown, in his speeches, often belittles presidential politics as “a gong show”--and his ventures Saturday were a good illustration of the characterization.

It was a mob scene as Brown, surrounded by television crews, scores of reporters, volunteers, political hangers-on and curious residents, marched down several blocks of Harlem and, later, the Upper West Side.

He was frequently heckled by blacks in Harlem, where he seemed to try to avoid--unsuccessfully--the outspoken Rev. Al Sharpton, whom many Jewish leaders detest and consider an anti-Semite.

At one point, Sharpton--trailed by several dozen followers--was marching down a street with a golf club, saying he was looking for Clinton, who recently provoked controversy by playing golf at an all-white country club in Arkansas. At the same time, Brown and his horde were approaching from another direction. When the candidate caught a glimpse of Sharpton, he changed course to avoid him.

“Martin Luther King--Adam Clayton Powell--real heroes,” black citizens chanted, as well as “We want Al.”

The two entourages ultimately met in the middle of a street blocked off by police, to the accompaniment of conga drums.

Brown climbed on top of a white minivan and tried to speak to the crowd of several hundred, but was shouted down with demands that he “talk to Al.”

“Have a little respect now,” Sharpton demanded. “Let’s hear what Mr. Brown has to say.”

The candidate gave the crowd his basic campaign speech, emphasizing that he wants “blacks, whites, Jews, Gentiles, Anglos, Latinos to come together in a new force.”

After he finished, Sharpton tried to talk to the candidate from his standing position about 25 feet away. But Brown quickly slipped into the van and was driven off.

“Don’t run, listen to him (Sharpton),” a woman yelled.

Having already alienated many Jewish voters by announcing that he would offer the vice presidency to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Brown clearly did not want to exacerbate that problem by spending time with Sharpton.