Clinton Gives the Public a Glimpse of His Lighter Side : Politics: Foreign policy remarks and contact with voters have been scarce since end of the primaries. Candidate opts to appear on the TV call-in shows.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — When Garry Mauro took the podium to introduce the keynote speaker last week at the state Democratic convention in Houston, he quickly had the 10,000 people rocking with laughter. No, Mauro is no stand-up comedian.

All he did was put on Bill Clinton’s black wrap-around sunglasses, which the Arkansas governor had worn while playing the saxophone two nights earlier on “The Arsenio Hall Show.”

“He loaned me these for the introduction,” joked Mauro, Clinton’s campaign chairman in Texas.

Mauro apparently liked the shades so much that he kept them on throughout his rambling introduction, returning them as the rightful owner took the dais.

Is Clinton concerned that shades may present an unpresidential image? And would that image haunt him just as the infamous tank ride came back to haunt Michael S. Dukakis, the party’s 1988 standard-bearer? A call-in questioner on the “Larry King Live” show later raised that very specter.

Not at all, said the likely Democratic nominee. “I’ve been playing the sax since I was 9. It’s a part of who I am.”

Added Clinton aide James Carville: “The problem with Dukakis in the tank was that it was so unreal. It wasn’t the real Dukakis. This was the real Bill Clinton. That’s not to say he wears sunglasses indoors. But it is to say that he likes to have fun.”

For the record, the glasses were given to Clinton by a member of the Hall show. Another Hall staffer gave him a florescent, patterned tie, which Clinton also proudly wore.

In recent days, foreign policy issues seem to have become an endangered species in the Clinton campaign. But that’s because they have been forced to the back burner by such pressing domestic issues as the Los Angeles riots, said Paul Begala, a Clinton adviser.

Foreign policy questions seem to come up only when an occasional voter raises them. “It’s been a little while,” conceded George Stephanopolous, Clinton’s communications director.

But look for that to change soon with President Bush’s visit today to Panama and a number of other high-profile foreign policy appearances in coming weeks. Among them: a trip to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro--where he arrives late tonight, a meeting with Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin and an economic summit of Western industrialized nations in Munich.

Responding to questions during recent television call-in appearances, Clinton said he opposes the Bush Administration policy of returning Haitian refugees without conducting asylum hearings, and he favors continued pressures on Cuba.

Another vanishing element of a traditional presidential campaign, as viewed from the Clinton campaign trail, are the voters themselves. Since winning the California primary, Clinton has met with precious few voters.

Aside from two Texas appearances late last week--at the state Democratic convention and a national meeting of the American Assn. of Retired Persons in San Antonio--there have been no public events, unless a private fund-raiser in Greenwich, Conn., counts.

But that’s not to say that Clinton has faded from view. Rather, he has chosen to reach viewers directly--appearing on call-in shows on CBS (with Dan Rather), on CNN (with Larry King), on NBC’s “Today” show (with Bryant Gumbel), as well as on the Hall show. Next week, he plans another appearance on CBS as well as a more offbeat venture: a question-and-answer session on MTV, aimed at the 18- to 24-year-old crowd. MTV also has invited George Bush and Ross Perot, who reportedly are seriously considering the offer to appear individually.

Clinton came home for a few days to conduct state business, rest and plan campaign strategy with Ronald H. Brown, the Democratic Party national chairman. On Wednesday he took time to stage live satellite interviews with television stations in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit and Charlotte, N.C., followed by interviews with the Associated Press radio, CBS radio and the Pennsylvania Radio Network. He reiterated his strong opposition to the balanced budget amendment being debated in Washington, saying it would aggravate the recession.

In addition, Clinton has spent about $400,000 to buy 30 minutes of air time Friday night on NBC to broadcast a town meeting with undecided voters in Pittsburgh, Pa.

“Anything you can do to be directly responsive to the public is a good thing to do,” Clinton said. “I like doing this--interactive technology. It’s very exhilarating to me.”

The governor is scheduled to resume campaigning in person with appearances in Washington on Friday and Saturday, when he is to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus and the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition.

Strapped for cash, Clinton also has scheduled numerous fund-raisers in the weeks ahead, including in San Diego.

Throughout the bruising Democratic primaries, Clinton’s now-vanquished foes were ardently hoping that new disclosures about Clinton would derail his candidacy.

Now, with Perot’s independent candidacy looming, it is the Clinton camp that’s hoping disclosures will put the Texas billionaire on the ropes.

“We just don’t know much about him,” Begala said. “But it’s going to all come out, believe me.”

With plenty of down time in Little Rock, Clinton has been able to step up his running in an ongoing battle against the bulge. The governor is doing as much as five miles a day now and hopes by the end of the summer to get down to eight-minute miles.

Clinton also took time out Tuesday night to swing by the Dunbar Community Center to vote in the state’s Democratic primary runoffs. He took less than a minute to decide on the four local races on the ballot.