Edmund G Jerry Jr Brown

For former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas, it's put up or shut up time. In the wake of Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton's big victories in the Southern Democratic presidential primaries Tuesday, Tsongas must find a way to broaden his appeal in next week's Illinois and Michigan primaries. Otherwise, his candidacy will lose credibility and its survival will be in question. Mindful of the crisis confronting the campaign, his advisers spent Monday pressing him to adopt a new strategy.

For former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas, it's put up or shut up time. In the wake of Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton's big victories in the Southern Democratic presidential primaries Tuesday, Tsongas must find a way to broaden his appeal in next week's Illinois and Michigan primaries. Otherwise, his candidacy will lose credibility and its survival will be in question. Mindful of the crisis confronting the campaign, his advisers spent Monday pressing him to adopt a new strategy.

President Bush and four of the major Democratic presidential hopefuls were declared eligible Wednesday for federal matching campaign funds. The Democrats who qualified were Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the Federal Election Commission reported. Earlier, former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas, also a Democrat, was declared eligible for matching funds.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) announced Friday that she has recommended to President Clinton that he appoint San Diego County Superior Court Judge Judith McConnell to a federal district court judgeship in the Southern District of California, which covers San Diego and Imperial counties.

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who abandoned his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination two weeks ago, will endorse Bill Clinton today or Thursday in New York, sources said Tuesday. People close to the Harkin organization said the endorsement will come in exchange for prime consideration for the vice presidency, but a Clinton campaign official discounted that.

It wasn't two hours on the "Today" show or a live shot on MTV. It wasn't even a half-hour radio call-in program with questions from Bob in Boston or Paula in Pittsburgh. In his latest effort to speak directly to the American voter, President Bush sat down Monday for a live, 30-minute interview on the Cable News Network. What emerged was an easy-going chat--about figures such as Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin and, to a much lesser degree, Ross Perot--that met with the President's approval.

Most politicians would gladly accept the opportunity to appear on any of the three network morning talk shows, but not former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. Brown was invited to join the other Democratic presidential hopefuls last Thursday on "Today" as NBC had hoped to present the first joint appearance of all six major candidates. But Brown told the network he wanted to be the only guest and requested a "significant" amount of time--a request NBC found unacceptable.

Gov. Pete Wilson's campaign, in its most direct attempt yet to link Democrat Kathleen Brown to the legacy of her older brother, unveiled a television ad Friday that says Brown holds "the same position on the death penalty as her brother, Jerry Brown." Television viewers are left to guess at precisely what that position is. The ad says only that former governor Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr.

It appears that, just as he promised during his campaign, Gray Davis really will need a big--no, giant--table in his new office as governor. He said he wants to hear from everybody. And so far, the Democratic governor-elect has asked nearly 50 prominent Californians, including some skeptical Republicans, to share their views as members of advisory panels on education and agriculture.

For 2 1/2 years, no elected official was closer to Gov. Gray Davis than the conservative Democratic congressman from the San Joaquin Valley town of Ceres, Gary Condit. But when Davis last week broke his silence and criticized Condit for his conduct after Washington intern Chandra Levy's disappearance, the relationship came to an apparent end. The breach further exposed the Condit family's raw wounds and underscored the often transitory nature of political alliances.