Democratic Leaders Say the Time Has Come to Unite Behind Clinton : Congress: Candidate is said to have picked up more than two dozen endorsements after meetings with House and Senate lawmakers.

Ratifying what now appears inevitable, Democratic leaders in Congress emerged from a series of meetings Wednesday with Bill Clinton declaring that the time had arrived to coalesce behind the Arkansas governor as the party’s presidential nominee.

“Members were getting up almost like in a prayer meeting saying they weren’t committed, but they are now,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who endorsed Clinton after the Democratic front-runner spoke to the House Democratic caucus in the morning.

Whether the legislators had actually found religion, or were merely bowing to political reality one day after Clinton’s decisive victory in the Pennsylvania primary, the result was the same: a surge of endorsements from members of Congress, many of whom will serve as “super delegates” to the Democratic convention in July.

By the end of the day, Clinton’s aides said he had attracted more than two dozen new endorsements from senators and representatives, with more expected in the days ahead. Combined with his strong showing in Pennsylvania--57% to Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr.’s 26%--the Clinton campaign said the day’s catch padded his delegate total to 1,554, putting him within clear sight of the 2,145 needed for a first-ballot nomination.

“I think this thing is really beginning to move,” said House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). “Pennsylvania may have broken the ice.”

But, unfazed by the Pennsylvania results, Brown continued campaigning and coalition-building Wednesday, telling a cheering crowd of several hundred at the University of Nebraska-Omaha to sign up as volunteers and call his 800 number to contribute.

“We want to mobilize committees of activists all over this nation,” he said.

Brown also hammered once again at Clinton, conceding that his rival had amassed “a commanding lead” but warning that he “should not be anointed” with the Democratic nomination without overcoming some challenge. Brown, who contends that large contributions have corrupted the political process, charged that Clinton is being “paid for” by big contributors.

He picked up on the theme later at an Omaha community center, saying: “It’s that kind of obsession with the golden calf of money that is wrecking our political system.” Brown refuses to accept contributions larger than $100 and has called on Clinton to do the same. The Arkansas governor accepts contributions up to the legal limit, $1,000.

For Clinton, as important as gaining new super delegates was, the clear prospect that Wednesday’s meetings would dramatically diminish the embarrassing public hand-wringing among many congressional Democrats about his prospects this fall against President Bush. If anything, Clinton’s greeting on Capitol Hill was so emphatic that he took pains to reaffirm his status as an outsider--among his most valuable assets in an era of widespread public disenchantment with Washington, in general, and Congress, in particular.

Throughout his campaign, Clinton has periodically criticized Congress, particularly for its last pay raise, and insisted that legislators should enjoy no further increases until wages for American workers again begin to rise.

Surrounded by dozens of congressional supporters at a late-afternoon press conference, Clinton said that when House members asked if he would run with them or against them in the fall, he replied: “If you’re going to be for change, then I’ll be running with you.”

To illustrate the point, he said that in his private meetings, he urged the congressional Democrats to pass campaign finance reform legislation, give the President the line-item veto and embrace a national service program, which some liberals have resisted. Most pointedly, he said the House should comply with a Justice Department subpoena seeking personal financial records from all members who used the House bank during the check scandal.

Even so, he signaled what could be a significant general election argument by maintaining that divided government--in which the GOP controls the White House and the Democrats control Congress--had proved a failure over the last decade. “We cannot hope to turn this country around unless the President and the Congress are in harness and work together to get something done,” he said. “I think the American people are sick and tired of gridlock in Washington.”

Clinton did not convert all his skeptics in the morning meeting with 150 House members and the afternoon session with all Democratic senators. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.), who said she was still concerned by polls showing many voters holding an unfavorable impression of the Democratic front-runner, said: “I want some certainty that we can really put forth a candidate. I just don’t want to relive 1988 ever again.”

The list of Democratic legislators urging the party to unite behind Clinton included Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois, House Democratic Congressional Committee Chairman Vic Fazio of West Sacramento, Reps. Esteban E. Torres of Pico Rivera and Edward R. Roybal of Los Angeles and Don Edwards of San Jose. Earlier this month, Edwards had been among those exhorting super delegates to keep their options open.

“It’s time,” Edwards said. “He is our nominee.”

Brownstein reported from Washington and Pine from Omaha.