By John F. Harris and Saundra Torry
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, March 7, 1998; Page A06

After several days of behind-the-scenes lobbying, the Clinton administration today will launch a more visible effort to build political pressure on Congress to pass a tobacco settlement.

President Clinton's weekly radio address, which was taped in advance for broadcast this morning, is the first in what is planned to be a rapid succession of speeches and appearances next week by the president, Vice President Gore and other administration officials on tobacco.

The hope, as administration officials described it yesterday, is to add spark to a so-far inert legislative process and to convince lawmakers they will pay a price in this fall's elections if they do not pass a comprehensive tobacco settlement that meets Clinton's standards. "The goal is to raise the cost of failure," said White House senior adviser Rahm Emanuel.

Despite this bluster, administration officials acknowledged that Clinton must move gingerly. Republicans have warned that raising the profile of the tobacco issue risks giving the debate a partisan tinge -- chasing away GOP votes in the process.

Many of Clinton's new spending initiatives are dependent on passage of tobacco legislation, which would significantly increase federal tobacco taxes.

Some House Democrats have urged Clinton to be more confrontational, and more outspoken about demonizing the tobacco industry and Republicans who would block a deal. But Clinton aides say they are avoiding such tactics for now. White House Chief of Staff Erskine B. Bowles, who played a central role in crafting last year's bipartisan budget bill, spent much of this week on Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers of both parties. And, in a sign of the new cooperation, Bowles and White House domestic policy adviser Bruce Reed met Thursday with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a leader in Senate efforts to pass tobacco legislation. If Clinton and Gore "highlight the issue, that's good," said a McCain aide. "But if they demagogue or bash Republicans . . . they would do harm" to any bipartisan effort.

Clinton on Monday will push the tobacco issue before the American Medical Association, and again on Thursday in remarks to state attorneys general. The Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill, Sen. Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), plan an event next week emphasizing how little time is left in this year's legislative session -- an estimated 70 full work days -- that will be followed up with daily events emphasizing the ticking clock. Gore and Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala will go to Boston for a "town meeting" on the tobacco issue.

The involvement of Gore, a vocal smoking foe and expected presidential candidate, especially irks many Republicans. "If you throw Gore into the mix, you will have nothing but every weepy, whiny, cruddy effort to staple packs of cigarettes" to Republican lawmakers, said one GOP aide.

Efforts to craft a bill gained momentum in the Senate last week, as McCain's tobacco bill was designated by the GOP leadership as the major Senate vehicle. McCain scheduled an unusual hearing next Tuesday with testimony from other committee chairmen and ranking Democrats -- an effort to bring together the many senators who have claimed jurisdiction over the issue.

Reaching an agreement is "an uphill climb," Daschle said yesterday, adding that the Senate was "closer at the end of this week than we were last week."

But public health advocates were worried about the Senate's direction, in part because of the small working group of Commerce Committee members McCain has put together. Among its four Democrats are two from tobacco states, Sens. Ernest F. Hollings (S.C.) and Wendell H. Ford (Ky.), who advocates fear may be soft on cigarette makers.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a tobacco industry opponent who is also in the group, said he believes there is a bipartisan majority on the committee that wants "to do the job right. If Republicans decide to pass a bill that is a wish list for the tobacco industry by getting all the Republicans and a handful of Democrats [on the committee], they will be shooting themselves in the foot and perhaps a couple of other limbs."

But there are wide divisions on practically every issue. Four Senate bills have been introduced, each offering a different vision of a national tobacco policy. One issue dividing senators is whether to grant the tobacco industry the protection from mass lawsuits it seeks. McCain has said that is a necessary trade-off for gaining the industry's agreement to curb advertising and marketing to teenagers.

Next week, a bipartisan measure sponsored by Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), John H. Chafee (R-R.I.) and Bob Graham (D-Fla.) may be added to the mix. According to a draft of the bill, it would call for a $1.50-per-pack cigarette price increase over two years, the toughest of any bill. It tackles the liability issue with a new twist, preserving the right to sue and setting up a capped fund to pay successful plaintiffs. Tobacco companies would pay $4 billion a year into the fund, regardless of how much was used; They would be liable for up to another $4 billion a year, if judgments exceeded the fund total.