Clinton Denies He Would Wreck Defense : Campaign: Democrat rebuts Bush’s criticism by saying he has always backed a strong military and a strong economy.

Dismissing assertions by President Bush that a Democratic victory in November would gut the nation’s defensive capabilities, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton said Friday that he has displayed “clear and consistent” support for a strong defense.

The Democratic presidential nominee also renewed his contention that America’s national security interests are best served by a strong economy at home.

“I do recommend that we cut some things more than he does, including ‘Star Wars’ research, but we’ll still have the strongest defense in the world and have a strong economy,” Clinton told reporters after visiting a North Little Rock community center.

“We’re being weakened today more in the world by a weak economy than by anything else,” he added.

Bush issued his criticism of Clinton on Thursday as he campaigned in California. Speaking to employees of an Anaheim high-tech firm, Bush declared his refusal to “let our economy be wrecked and our security threatened by the politically appealing idea of gutting our national defense.”

He also scored Clinton for barely touching on national security issues during the speech two weeks ago in which he accepted his party’s nomination for President.

The criticism came as the two started to close out a week that has been largely spent debating the foreign policy and national security issues that were emphasized only sporadically in the campaign.

For Bush, who has characterized Clinton as reckless and uninformed on foreign policy matters, it has been an attempt to recapture ground that has traditionally been Republican territory.

For Clinton, the focus on foreign policy has been intended to chip away at Bush’s strongest suit and to cause voters to question the basic accomplishments of his presidency.

The Democrat said Friday that he had given “very detailed” statements about his defense priorities.

“And my record is clear and consistent with the recommendations for a strong national defense, recommendations that have been largely consistent with those made by defense advocates in the Congress,” he said.

Clinton has advocated a $100-billion cut in defense spending by 1997--far more than Bush’s recommendations but more conservative than the slicing proposed by many Democrats. During the primary campaign, in fact, other Democrats, such as Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, accused Clinton of being too tentative in his defense cut proposals.

Under Clinton’s plan, the savings would be accomplished by ceasing production of the B-2 bomber, a reduction of naval forces from 12 carrier task forces to 10, and a cut in the number of troops stationed in Europe.

He also called for construction of more Air Force transport planes.

The defense cutbacks rarely make it into Clinton’s regular campaign speeches, with the exception of his daily promise to transfer all defense savings into domestic programs, such as construction of communication and high-tech rail systems, among other projects.

Earlier this week, when he campaigned in California, Clinton lamented the loss of hundreds of thousands of defense jobs in the state and said that those who have lost their jobs in recent years would have been retrained into high-tech jobs under a Clinton Administration.

On Friday, Clinton spent much of the day catching up with Arkansas business. In the evening, he traveled to St. Louis, where he told the predominantly black National Bar Assn. that his judicial appointments will reflect the country’s racial diversity.

“I will be uncompromising in my commitment to excellence in these appointments,” he said, adding in a reference to controversial Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas:

“I don’t want anybody conducting hearings on my appointees wondering whether they are really qualified . . . I have news for this Administration--there are really qualified African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Native Americans and Asian-Americans who can serve in any position in the land.”

Clinton told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that he would spend much of the next several days working on state budget proposals.

The governor announced late Friday that he will postpone for one day a planned bus trip next week thorugh the upper Mississippi River states. Instead of beginning the bus tour on Tuesday, Clinton will travel to Washington for the funeral of his friend and fund-raiser, attorney Vic Raiser, who died Thursday in a plane crash.

The bus trip, which will now begin on Wednesday, will include Clinton’s running mate, Tennessee Sen. Al Gore.