Hillary Will Wait Until 2000

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that New Yorkers will probably not learn for certain if she's running for the Senate until early next year.

"I am looking toward after the first of the year to make a final decision," the first lady said following a forum at a Kingston Community Center.

But Clinton seemed to indicate that her candidacy was a go. "I'll be doing interviews after the first of the year," she said.

Clinton, in her brief news conference after the gathering, reiterated her support for Vice President Al Gore, but also had kind words for Gore's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley.

"I have a lot of respect and admiration for Sen. Bradley," Clinton said. "I'm very pleased that both of them have come forward with some important ideas and positions for this campaign."

At the forum, Clinton had blamed changes in the American workplace for "undermining economic and psychological security."

She said she was increasingly concerned about American companies decreasing pension and health benefits for employees and their families. The expected Senate candidate for New York said that she felt such benefits were "part of the basic bargain" for Americans.

Before an audience of more than 100 local residents, Clinton heard from business executives and laid-off workers.

On Sunday night in Monticello, Clinton spoke of campaign finance reform.

"Now that I'm leaning so far in becoming a candidate that if I leaned any further I'd fall over, I really support campaign finance reform," Clinton, whose supporters have vowed to raise $25 million for her race, told about 600 Democrats at a dinner Sunday night at a landmark of the Catskills, Kutsher's Country Club.

"In the weeks and months ahead I'm going to have more to say about that because I think it is imperative that we all, as citizens of our democracy, stand up for change in the way that we finance campaigns," the first lady said.

But she offered no details about what she might propose.

During her appearance at Kutsher's, Clinton sidestepped the thorny issue of casino gambling for the economically struggling Catskills. She did tell the Democrats that she felt upstate New York "needs extra help" to thrive economically.

Clinton was the star attraction at a $55-a-person Sullivan County Democratic Committee fund-raising dinner. It was the second such event she has headlined in three days and the third in three weeks in her adopted state.

While Clinton has regularly sought to help Democratic congressional candidates across New York, she has in recent weeks begun lending her fame to local party organizations as she prepares for next year's Senate race.

On Friday night, the first lady spoke at a fund-raising dinner staged by Suffolk County Democrats on Long Island and three weeks ago she helped Schenectady County Democrats raise money.

The Clinton cap also believes that helping local Democrats, particularly outside heavily Democratic New York City, could pay dividends for the first lady in her expected race against New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

The suburban counties surrounding New York City and the upstate area, where Republicans tend to run well, are expected to be key battlegrounds in the Senate race.

Once a booming tourist area catering largely to visitors from New York City, the Catskills have seen one large resort hotel after another close in recent years, in part because of competition from Atlantic City's casinos in neighboring New Jersey.

Before her visit to Sullivan County, Clinton was sent letters from the St. Regis Mohawks and their supporters seeking her backing for a plan to have the tribe open a casino at Monticello Raceway.

While casino gambling is generally illegal in New York State, Indian tribes are allowed to operate casinos in New York if their plans are approved by federal and state officials. Two such Indian-owned casinos are already operating in the state.

Clinton didn't mention the casino gambling issue in her speech Sunday and aides provided no information about her position on the subject.