POLITICAL BRIEFING

RAPID FIRE: Speaking of Clinton’s pledge, his campaign made the most of a chance to display its much vaunted “quick response” capability last week to counter a Bush advertisement charging that the Arkansas governor would, in fact, raise the taxes of average Americans. . . . The Bush ad surfaced Wednesday night, and by Thursday morning Clinton aides were sending tapes and transcripts of it to news organizations. Why spread the GOP message? The Clinton team, confident the Bush ad would not stand up to scrutiny, wanted to ensure it was analyzed. And by Friday, it was clear why. . . . That morning, a new Clinton ad--complete with quotations from the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal casting doubt on the Bush spot--was in the hands of reporters. By evening, within 48 hours of the Bush attack, the Clinton commercial was on the air in key states--a quick turnaround virtually without precedent.