Monday, Apr. 05, 1993

Riding The Dinosaur

BILL CLINTON, ESTABLISHED WIZARD OF HIGH-TECH communications, finally bowed to the antiquated ritual of the East Room press conference, favored forum of the White House press corps. Using humor and knowledge to parry 31 questions ranging from budget to Boris Yeltsin, Clinton showed himself a master of the ring for nearly an hour, with only one small glitch. That was a hint that if he lifted the ban on gays in the military, they might be placed in segregated units. While such a compromise was tossed around in the testy debate between President and Pentagon, the White House began taking even that back within | minutes of the press conference, leaving a perfect score of no news for Clinton's East Room debut. Every thought, every nuance on policy, in fact almost every word had been spoken before in one of the many media Clinton now exploits.

John Kennedy, who more or less designed the big White House press conference, used it to ladle out dollops of new fact laced with Kennedy glamour. That has all been turned on its head. The 150 or so correspondents now prepare themselves to trap the President for a minidrama on the nightly news, while he arms himself to deflect their barbs or smother them in warmed- over words. A game is afoot. This round went to Bill Clinton by an Arkansas mile. Next time . . . well, given the President's determination not to filter his proposals through the contentious corps, next time may be many months away. Then there is the thought that this ritual ought to expire, as a great dinosaur should.