Clinton draws partisan reaction

Tuesday, July 29, 1997 | 10:27 a.m.

President Clinton's speech at the National Governors' Association conference brought out the best in partisan comments from as diverse a collection of politicos as can be found under one roof.

Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, who slammed then-President George Bush at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, offered effusive praise for Clinton.

"He's just a terrific leader, an incredible tour de force," she said. "I've heard every president in my lifetime, and I never heard one that could cover in depth every domestic subject the way he did today.

"He was all casual, saying we're really doing well, moving forward. We've got some problems. Here's how we ought to work them out."

The association's vice chairman, Republican Ohio Gov. George Voinovich, appreciated the president's continued commitment to welfare reform. However, Voinovich opposed Clinton's initiative for national testing standards for fourth-graders in reading and eighth-graders in math.

"There's a lot of resistance out there for 'presidential standards' in education," Voinovich said. "People are really very jealous about education. We're getting a lot of testing going on by businesses in terms of where they stay, where they expand and where they're coming to, and states that don't meet world-class standards aren't going to be successful economically."

Former Clinton Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, now a consultant in Washington, D.C., said the president has recognized the link between education and economic well-being. He also saluted Clinton for reminding the governors that race relations continue to pose a huge problem in America.

"There is no more eloquent spokesman than Bill Clinton on the issue of race," Ickes said. "The fact that he is from the South, a white former governor, a president from the South, and talks about the issues of race in an open and honest way does as much for the country as any study commission."

Nevada Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, a possible GOP gubernatorial candidate in 1998, dubbed Clinton a "superb politician" but cast doubts about how some of the president's initiatives would play in this state.

"I do have a problem with the fact that our own state's Medicaid reimbursement, I've been told, is the lowest in the nation," Hammargren said. "I have a problem with looking at the small amounts of tax cuts and the problems for balancing the budgets in the future.

"With as much thought and preparation as he (Clinton) has put into his whole political life, there is hardly anything he ever said that anybody can really disagree with. His heart and thoughts are in the right place."

Former GOP New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, who also served as Bush's chief of staff, has been one of Clinton's sharpest critics on televised talk shows. That explains his response after arriving at The Mirage hotel-casino just minutes after Clinton finished his speech.

"I got lucky," Sununu said. "The best thing he (Clinton) can do in the second term is act like a Republican. The more he does of that, the better off the country will be."