Cuomo Declines Vice Presidential Bid

WASHINGTON — Gov. Mario M. Cuomo of New York has declined to be considered for the Democratic vice-presidential nomination, narrowing Gov. Bill Clinton’s search for a running mate to four senators and a congressman, Clinton campaign sources said Wednesday.

Cuomo’s action, said the sources, means that the Arkansas governor is now focusing on Rep. Lee H. Hamilton of Indiana and Sens. Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee, Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania, Bob Kerrey of Nebraska and Bob Graham of Florida.

In addition to removing himself from contention, Cuomo has asked not to be considered for any official role at the Democratic convention, according to Brad Johnson, a Clinton spokesman.

Cuomo took himself out of the running when interviewed by Warren Christopher, who is heading up Clinton’s search.

Clinton has interviewed both Hamilton and Gore, according to a source, and may interview Wofford, Kerrey and Graham.

Hamilton told reporters that he met with Clinton about the post early Wednesday in Washington. The 61-year-old congressman, ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the House Iran-Contra hearings into the biggest scandal of the Ronald Reagan Administration, said that if offered the post he will give it “very serious consideration.”

Many outside commentators have urged Clinton to select a woman or minority or make some other bold choice to bring excitement to the ticket and galvanize the party’s traditional base. But a Clinton campaign adviser said the governor had decided he needed a tested political figure to campaign in what is expected to be an especially tough, hard-hitting general election battle.

Gore, 44, who served three terms in the House and is serving his second term as a senator, is perhaps the most battle-hardened. He was not available for comment Wednesday.

Gore did well in debates and emerged relatively unscathed during a losing race for the party’s presidential nomination in 1988. Clinton campaign sources said the governor was favorably impressed with that performance, and with Gore’s record on foreign affairs and the environment.

In contrast to Vice President Dan Quayle, a Clinton campaign source said, Gore “would be seen as a strong vice president capable of taking over if anything should happen to the President.”

Although a Clinton-Gore pairing would go against traditional political wisdom that a presidential ticket needs geographical balance to attract broad nationwide support, it would buttress the 45-year-old Arkansas governor’s case that a generational change is needed to lead the country out of economic and social stagnation.

Graham might be an appealing choice, said one Clinton campaign source, because he is a former governor--a qualification Clinton rates highly--and because he would give the Democrats a better chance of carrying Florida.

Kerrey, 48, a combat veteran who was wounded in Vietnam, would help Clinton press his case for generational change and might mitigate the issue of Clinton’s efforts to avoid the draft during that conflict. But some sources suggested that he is a long shot.

Wofford, 66, would help Clinton in crucial Pennsylvania and might galvanize blacks and labor. But his stand in favor of limits on abortion rights may have hurt him with Clinton, who has said he will make support for abortion rights a litmus test for his running mate.

Times staff writers Cathleen Decker and David Lauter contributed to this story.