ELECTIONS ’92 : 3 Democrats Selected for Keynote Talks : Convention: Clinton campaign also offers prime-time slots for addresses by Brown, Tsongas and Jackson.

Three prominent Democrats have been tabbed to give keynote addresses on the opening night of the party’s national convention next month: New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, Georgia Gov. Zell Miller and former Texas Rep. Barbara Jordan, several sources said.

In addition, Texas Gov. Ann Richards will chair the convention, party officials and aides to Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton said Thursday.

Also, in a move toward unity, the Clinton campaign has agreed to provide prime-time speaking slots for at least two of the men he vanquished in laying claim to the party’s presidential nomination--former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. and former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas. A third slot is to be offered to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has been at odds with Clinton.

Clinton aides say they expect Tsongas and Jackson to accept the offers, but are not sure whether Brown wishes to speak.

The keynote choices, which could be announced today, come after lengthy debate within Clinton’s campaign about how best to use the convention to showcase issues and personalities that party strategists hope will help boost the presumptive nominee back into close contention with President Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot in the fall election.

Bradley has long been considered one of his party’s rising stars and has attracted considerable attention in recent months with speeches urging a new emphasis on resolving racial conflicts.

Miller, regarded as an excellent speaker, was one of Clinton’s crucial supporters during the primaries, helping him win a landslide victory in Georgia in early March that put his drive to the nomination back on track.

Jordan, who was one of the nation’s best-known black politicians in the 1970s before she retired to teach at the University of Texas, delivered a dramatic keynote speech at the Democratic convention in 1976--the last year a Democrat won the White House.

Richards gave one of the best-remembered addresses of the 1988 convention, a scathingly sarcastic speech in which she accused then-Vice President Bush of having been “born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

With those decisions out of the way, the overall shape of the convention has begun coming into focus, despite shortages of money and lingering organizational problems.

Sources familiar with the event’s planning say that some proposals for elaborate productions have been scrubbed because neither the Clinton campaign nor the party has the money to pay for them.

In addition, hours have been spent haggling over everything from who should sing the National Anthem (still an issue) to which prominent officials should speak on what night and in which order.

The latter dispute was one reason Clinton and party Chairman Ronald H. Brown opted for three keynote speakers instead of one, sources familiar with the discussions said. Each speaker is to get about 15 minutes on prime time when the convention opens on Monday, July 13.

Even with the longer list, not all were satisfied. As word of the selections surfaced, some California Democrats complained that no one from the state with the nation’s most electoral votes--54--had yet been selected for a high-profile convention slot.

That may be rectified. Clinton has not yet decided who will give his official nominating speech and several Californians reportedly are under consideration for the job.

Sources said that Tsongas, Brown and Jackson are to be offered speaking slots on Tuesday night.

Lauter reported from Washington and Baum from New York. Times staff writer Thomas Rosenstiel in Washington contributed to this story.