WASHINGTON WATCH: ABORTION, AND MORE, CAN RUIN A WEEK

President Clinton probably won't be writing home about this week. What White House officials originally planned to be seven days of positive, agenda-setting action went bust about as fast as the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. No baseball analogy is possible, since it remains frozen in labor negotiations.

A warning actually came at the end of last week, when New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, a Southeast Missouri native, commented that there should be a primary challenge to the president if his poll numbers didn't improve soon. It was a curious thing for a Democrat to say since Clinton's popularity at the time was at its highest in several months, and history indicates that primary challenges to a sitting president are usually only successful in weakening the incumbent for the general election. Word is that some movers and shakers in the Democratic party would rather lose in 1996 than go through another four years with Clinton. Better yet, they hope the president gets the message and changes his mind about running. On Sunday, Clinton's troubles really began when the Washington Post kicked off a series of articles that revisited claims made by him when he was a candidate in 1992. The series, excerpted from a book written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Post reporter who covered the 1992 election, revealed that much of what Clinton and his staff said during the campaign wasn't the truth, including his explanations about avoiding the draft, smoking marijuana, protesting against the United States and his affairs with women. Although nothing dramatically new was reported, the series reinforced the gloom about Clinton's personal character and shined the spotlight on his tendency to be indecisive and less-than-forthcoming.When the president unveiled his 1996 budget on Monday, the week's downward slide continued. This time with something substantial. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, Nebraska Sen. Jim Exon, called the budget unacceptable to either side of the aisle, "It falls short, way short, of the deficit reduction we need." Likening the budget's strong parts to the punch line of an old joke, he added: "The food is terrible, and the portions are small." Sens. Bradley and Bob Kerrey were other Democrats who took prominent swipes at the president's lack of leadership. Republican opposition, as expected, was harsh. But it was the dearth of Democrats coming to the president's defense that was most notable.Then on Tuesday it was revealed that the president's nominee for surgeon general had not only conducted many more abortions than previously disclosed, but that he had led a research team in developing an abortion pill. Compounding the politically charged problem were statements by the White House later proved, and then admitted, to be false. Ironically, Republican leaders had indicated to the president weeks ago that they did not want a fight over the surgeon general nomination, preferring instead to remain focused on major economic concerns. But the White House forced them into a brawl. An unidentified administration official cited by the Washington Post agreed: "There are certain questions in the current political climate you check 10 times and then 10 times more because of their resonance. The question of whether the candidate performed abortions, under what circumstances, the public record in this area, you check them all so you can make an informed judgment going in. We're saying here that we did not do the proper vetting again."

Another nomination in trouble this week was the president's choice for Secretary of Agriculture. Although former Kansas Rep. Dan Glickman remains popular on the Hill, the White House continues to have problems explaining a Democratic National Committee credit card issued to him for personal use. Until the questions are resolved, White House officials say they won't send the official nomination to Congress. On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced that it would look into Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown's half-million-dollar profit on an investment that he didn't put any money into, and Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros was informed that a lawsuit by his former mistress could go to court.Concerning the president himself, meanwhile, was Whitewater. This week, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton hired four more lawyers to work full time on the matter. The next wave of indictments by the independent counsel is expected soon, and New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato announced that he plans to begin hearings within 90 days.Not all is bleak for Bill Clinton, however. He still is much more popular with the American people than Newt Gingrich. And the way Washington works, who knows what next week will bring?Jon K. Rust is a Washington-based writer for the Southeast Missourian.