Clinton plays down sniping in presidential race

''I have never seen a hard-fought political race where candidates did not disagree with their opponents' characterization of their record and their positions," Mr. Clinton said. "That's part of the debate, and it's always going to happen."

The four main remaining presidential rivals - Republicans John McCain and George W. Bush and Democrats Al Gore and Bill Bradley - are "people of accomplishment" and conviction with clear, though different, philosophies and records, Mr. Clinton said.

"Everybody will get hot and mad at everybody else," the president said, referring to the bickering within both political parties. But he added: "This is not a bad thing for America, this choice they have got. America has a good choice."

Mr. Clinton cautiously assessed the Republican and Democratic presidential races in response to several questions at his first formal news conference of the year. He used the event to announce more federal aid for the Northeast, which is hard pressed by rising heating-fuel prices.

He also said he had not yet decided whether to visit Pakistan during his trip next month to India, though he said the United States stood ready to mediate their dispute over Kashmir if both countries asked. So far, they have not.

Asked how he liked being a target of the Republicans, Mr. Clinton said they had little choice.

"I have a lot of sympathy with Governor Bush and Senator McCain. . . . It's hard for them to figure what to run on," Mr. Clinton quipped, touting a list of administration accomplishments.

"They can't run against the longest economic expansion in history, or the lowest crime rate in 30 years, or the lowest welfare rolls in 30 years, or the progress America has made in promoting peace around the world," the president said. "So, they've got a tough choice."

Reminded that Mr. Bradley has challenged Mr. Gore's veracity on abortion rights and other issues, Mr. Clinton said his vice president has always been "brutally honest with me."

But Mr. Clinton made clear he was not eager to wade deep into either the Democratic or Republican presidential races, or the Senate race of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in New York.

"The American people are in the driver's seat," he said. "I get to vote like everybody else. But I'm not a candidate, and I don't think I ought to get in the way."

And he dismissed the suggestion that he was a "casting a shadow" over the presidential race.

"I'd like to think I'm casting a little sunshine over it," he said, drawing laughs from the reporters and White House aides at his East Room news conference.

"I keep trying to build these fellows up, you know. I'm being nice and generous and all that."

Mr. Clinton did concede, however, that if he were a candidate for president again, he also would be making his conduct a political issue.

But he said he didn't believe that the voters, who he said were "really smart," would hold anyone else responsible for his "personal mistake."

"That's like shooting yourself in the foot," he said. "They're not going to do that. It's not in their interest, and it's not in their nature."