Perry Still in Running for Defense Job : Pentagon: Reports of deputy defense secretary’s misgivings had circulated. But a Clinton spokesman says he ‘continues to be a candidate.’

The White House took the unusual step Sunday night of saying that William J. Perry was still in the running for secretary of defense after reports circulated that he had expressed misgivings about the job.

Perry is deputy secretary of defense and has been regarded as a front-runner for the top spot after nominee Bobby Ray Inman, a retired admiral, bowed out Tuesday with a blast at his critics.

The New York Times, in its Monday editions, cited Pentagon officials as saying Perry told Thomas (Mack) McLarty, President Clinton’s chief of staff, Saturday that he did not want the Cabinet post.

In addition to its embarrassment over Inman’s abrupt withdrawal, the White House has also been told by two prominent defense experts, Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and former Republican Sen. Warren B. Rudman of New Hampshire, that they did not want to be considered for the job.

An Administration official, who asked not to be identified, said Perry had expressed some reservations but subsequently voiced “affirmative interest” in the high-profile post.

White House communications director Mark D. Gearan, taking the unusual step of talking about a candidate on the record, said Sunday night that Perry “continues to be a candidate. The President has not made up his mind at this point.”

Gearan also told the New York Times that Perry was “very much in the running.”

The paper said Vice President Al Gore had called Perry, a friend of long standing, to insist that he not let the Administration down.

Perry, 66, discussed the job Friday with the President but was not formally offered it then, officials said.

The White House forced Defense Secretary Les Aspin to announce his resignation last month. Aspin agreed to stay on until a successor was found.

Aspin’s troubled tenure included controversies over the Clinton policy on gays in the military and the deaths of members of U.S. humanitarian forces in Somalia.

Perry is a respected military expert with a background in both academe and industry. He is credited with pushing the successful Stealth aviation technology on Air Force officials who resisted it in the 1970s.

Perry is reported to advocate the continued production of major weapons such as submarines, even when not needed, to preserve the military-industrial base in the United States.

Presidential spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers said the search for a replacement for Inman was headed by McLarty, with assistance from Gore and National Security Adviser Anthony Lake.