A Weekend of Rain, Reporters, Recreation for Clinton

President-elect Bill Clinton spent a cold, dreary Saturday playing a long round of wet golf and chuckling over questions from reporters about his Cabinet selections.

“I never discuss appointments until I make them,” he said, laughing, when asked about speculation he has chosen Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.) as Treasury secretary. “Next week, you’ll know.”

Bentsen, a member of Washington’s old guard, seems to be the top contender for the post. Sources say that his “star is rising” in the selection process.

Clinton aides predict he will name his first Cabinet choices in mid-week, after returning from a trip to Washington on Monday and Tuesday. The first names are expected to be those of his economic team members, including the Treasury post and other jobs such as the director of the Office of Management and Budget and the chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

In addition, aides noted, Clinton has said several times that he considers the secretaries of commerce and energy to be part of his economic team and might name nominees for those posts as well.

At least one often-mentioned candidate for the commerce job, John A. Young, recently retired chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Corp., has taken himself out of the running. He issued a statement Saturday saying he had determined his financial holdings would create too many conflicts of interest for him to take a job.

Ira Magaziner, a business consultant from Rhode Island and longtime Clinton friend, has also been widely discussed as a candidate for the commerce post. Outgoing Sen. Timothy E. Wirth (D-Col.), who did not run for reelection, has been discussed as a possible secretary of energy. Clinton interviewed him last week.

Friday, Clinton interviewed Rep. Jill Long (D-Ind.), a possible candidate for secretary of agriculture.

Saturday, however, Clinton devoted much of his time to recreation. At roughly 7 a.m., he dropped off his daughter, Chelsea, at a school outing, signed autographs, then took off on a 40-minute jog, followed by a stop at a McDonald’s restaurant, before heading for the golf course despite a cold, sleety rain and temperatures hovering around the freezing mark.

“Do you think this certifies me too nutty to be President?” he asked reporters before teeing off with a shot that sliced to the right.

Clinton’s game got better--although the weather did not. Unlike President Bush, who plays a form of golf friends call “power golfing,” Clinton took a leisurely approach, taking four hours and 40 minutes to complete 18 holes before admitting to his partners that “it’s cold out there” and heading home.