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By P. DOUGLAS FILAROSKI; Times Leader Staff Writer
Thursday, October 10, 1996     Page: 1A

WILKES-BARRE — President Clinton’s comfortable lead in Pennsylvania isn’t
quite so cozy in our own Northeast area.
   
Enter Hillary Rodham Clinton.
    Pundits say Mrs. Clinton can blunt support for Republican Bob Dole among
the area’s Catholics and working class by focusing on issues important to
another large local constituent group — senior citizens.
   
The first lady is scheduled today to visit the Charles T. Adams Senior
Center in Wilkes-Barre, where campaign officials says she plans to outline
“the president’s work on behalf of seniors.”
   
The first lady is set to discuss “the administration’s efforts to
strengthen and protect Medicare and Medicaid,” said state Clinton-Gore
campaign spokeswoman Tricia Enright.
   
And that represents a perfect way for Mrs. Clinton to help her husband
cement the 16-point lead in a recent statewide poll, said Terry Madonna, a
political pollster from Millersville University.
   
An early October poll Madonna conducted for the Daily News of Philadelphia
showed Clinton leading Dole, 49-33 percent, but showed tight races in Central
and Northeastern Pennsylvania.
   
Although not scientific, the Northeast area numbers showed Dole leading
Clinton, 41-38 percent — a margin Madonna called a “statistical tie” because
of the small sample size.
   
Madonna attributed Dole’s better showing here to the large number of
Catholics who likely favor Dole’s abortion stance. The former Kansas senator’s
15-percent tax cut plan also seems to have struck a popular chord with the
area’s blue-collar workers, Madonna said.
   
To counter this, Mrs. Clinton will talk to the area’s older residents about
Democratic support of senior programs, said Dr. Michael Young, director of the
Center for Survey Research at Penn State-Harrisburg.
   
“I think she’ll do pretty well. The issues that work against Dole are the
issues involving aging,” Young said.
   
A six-county section of Northeastern Pennsylvania that comprises Nanticoke
Democrat Rep. Paul Kanjorski’s district ranks 11th of the nation’s 435
congressional districts in residents over age 65.
   
One risk, however, is that Mrs. Clinton’s support of abortion rights could
trigger opposition and lose points for her husband, Young said.
   
A 1994 poll by The Times Leader and Wilkes University showed 82 percent of
Luzerne County residents opposed abortions for any reason. It was far higher
than the 56 percent who opposed abortion in a national poll conducted by the
University of Chicago that year.
   
“Whether or not her visit will generate any stories or protests is
certainly a risk,” Young said. “But it’s one they should be willing to roll
the dice on. The way this thing is planned, there isn’t too much room for a
foul-up.”
   
Mrs. Clinton will arrive at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport
near Avoca in the early afternoon, attend an event with limited public access,
and leave directly after that visit.
   
The first lady has no other stops scheduled, Enright said. Because of
limited space at the senior center, people attending that event were
pre-selected through a lottery, she said.
   
“If you want her to go anywhere (in Northeastern Pennsylvania), you want to
go where abortion is not important. Generally, seniors don’t care much about
abortion,” Madonna said.
   
Enright said Mrs. Clinton will conduct an “informal discussion” with
seniors at the center, taking questions and speaking about various programs.
   
Among the issues to be discussed are the Older Americans Act, a law that
funds programs such as Meals on Wheels and transportation assistance and
provides pension initiatives, Enright said.
   
Later in the day, the first lady is scheduled to speak to high school
students in Erie about the president’s support of education programs, such as
student loans and Pell Grants.