Tsongas Won’t Re-Enter Race or Back Clinton

Removing one more obstacle to Bill Clinton’s nomination, Paul E. Tsongas said Thursday he would not re-enter a Democratic presidential race in which he could end up a “spoiler” but not a nominee.

Tsongas told a Boston press conference that despite his strong showing as a non-campaigning candidate in Tuesday’s primaries, Clinton’s victories in New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kansas left him with no realistic hope of victory.

“We did very well--but so did Bill Clinton,” said the former Massachusetts senator, who suspended his campaign March 19, citing a shortage of money. “That removed the argument that my re-entry would rescue the party.”

But as he bowed out, Tsongas was not helping the Arkansas governor build the unity Clinton has said he needs to close out a fractious primary season and begin rallying Democrats against President Bush.

Tsongas declined to endorse Clinton. And even as he asked his volunteers to halt their efforts, he seemed to be positioning himself to have a key role at the convention and to remain an alternative if Clinton’s campaign collapses.

Noting that his name will remain on the ballot in the year’s remaining 17 primaries and caucuses, Tsongas said voters in those states will still be able to “express support for my message.” He said his 539 delegates will still be able to represent him at the convention. Clinton has 1,267 delegates; 2,145 are required for nomination.

“As for my role, I intend to make my voice heard,” said Tsongas, who ran on a platform of economic revival and fiscal discipline. “I will do everything I can to create an environment where my message is the message the Democrats run on.”

Political analysts said Tsongas’ exit gave Clinton a virtual lock on the nomination, but by highlighting remaining splits within the party, the incident reiterated how much Clinton must overcome.

“The nomination is now Clinton’s to lose, but he’s far from that day every candidate imagines when the opposition evaporates and the party unites,” said Greg Schneiders, a Democratic political consultant in Washington.

The remaining difference with the Tsongas camp, although not a major obstacle, “is a problem--and Bill Clinton doesn’t need another problem,” he said.

Ronald H. Brown, the Democratic National Committee chairman, also stressed the importance of Tsongas’ supporters uniting with Clinton’s.

“We’re coming out of a very negative period and the candidates need a little rest,” Brown said at breakfast in Washington. “Then we need to focus on George Bush.”

Tsongas, who long denied any interest in the vice presidency, stopped short Thursday of saying he would never agree to be Clinton’s running mate. But he hinted that he would not consider such an offer until the bitter feelings between him and the governor end.

“I have feelings,” said Tsongas. “I have feelings.”

During the New Hampshire primary, Tsongas and Clinton said they had become friends. But, after Tsongas won New Hampshire, Clinton began to attack him. Soon, they were attacking each other: Clinton accused Tsongas of putting Wall Street’s interests before those of the average worker, of endangering Social Security and of being a weak supporter of Israel; Tsongas dubbed Clinton a “pander bear” for, he said, pandering to different constituencies and telling them whatever they wanted to hear.

Clinton called Tsongas at his home Wednesday night, while Tsongas was nearing the final decision on re-entering the race. But although the two men congratulated each other on Tuesday’s results, they did not discuss whether Tsongas would swing his support to the Arkansan.

“He did not ask me for my support, and I did not offer it,” Tsongas said.

In a statement from his campaign headquarters in Little Rock, Ark., where he is resting his voice under doctor’s orders, Clinton cited his “great respect” for Tsongas and seemed to try to enlist the help of Tsongas’ supporters.

“As Paul said this morning, ‘The American people are ready for new resolve.’ That requires defeating George Bush and getting this country moving again,” Clinton said in the statement.

But some Clinton aides voiced lingering bitterness at Tsongas’ attitude toward their candidate. They complained about what they said was Tsongas’ self-righteous attitude, and what they said was his view that he alone has the message for a Democratic resurgence.

“There are some good parts of his message, but, overall, people didn’t vote for that message when he was in the race,” said Dee Dee Myers, Clinton’s campaign spokeswoman.

Myers said Tsongas’ residual anger with Clinton was evident when the two talked Wednesday night. “There’s still a lot of personal anger and pain,” Myers said. “Clinton was struck by that.”

Asked to comment on Tsongas’ withdrawal, Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. suggested that he would not mind if Tsongas had re-entered the race, because he believes Tsongas would take more votes from Clinton than from him. “Whatever Tsongas is going to do, it’s all right with me,” said Brown, who was campaigning Thursday in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

At his press conference, Tsongas said he would have re-entered the race if Brown had won the New York and Wisconsin primaries.

In Tuesday’s balloting, Tsongas came in second in New York, with 29% of the vote, compared with Clinton’s 41%. In Wisconsin, Tsongas was third after Brown and Clinton, and had 22% of the vote. He was second--albeit a distant second--in Kansas, with 15% to Clinton’s 51%.

Tsongas sounded as if he was beginning to recognize a bond with President Warren G. Harding, who won the 1920 presidential race by not campaigning but sitting on his front porch.

“Obviously, what the people have said is that they like me better when I’m on my front porch,” joked Tsongas, who has a handsome Victorian porch on his home in Lowell, Mass.

On Wednesday night, when Tsongas made his decision, he received a call from former President Jimmy Carter.

The two men talked about “future scenarios” for the Democratic Party, and Carter did not try to persuade Tsongas to endorse Clinton, as Carter has, said Dennis Kanin, Tsongas’ campaign chief.

People close to Tsongas said that in the course of their deliberations, it had become clear how difficult it would be to overcome Clinton’s delegate lead. The party’s rules of proportional representation would make it difficult for Tsongas to gain ground even if he wins pluralities in a succession of states.

“Only an atomic bomb could keep Clinton from the nomination at this point,” said Michael P. Shea, a Boston consultant who advised the Tsongas campaign.

Times staff writers David Lauter and Marilyn Yaquinto in Washington and Melissa Healy in Virginia contributed to this story.