White House Asks Checchi to Pull TV Commercial

Seeking to enforce a policy of strict neutrality, the White House called on Democrat Al Checchi on Monday to pull a television advertisement showing the candidate alongside President Clinton.

The 30-second spot, which began running over the weekend, violates “long-standing White House policy forbidding the use of the name or image” of the president without consent, according to a terse letter dispatched to the Checchi campaign from the White House counsel’s office.

“In light of this policy, we must respectfully request that your campaign refrain from any further unauthorized use of the name and image of President Clinton.”

The spot in question consists of an upbeat, self-aggrandizing testimonial that describes the Democratic hopeful as “a leader for President Clinton in 1992 and 1996” and features a picture of the two men joined in conversation.

A spokesman for the Checchi campaign said the candidate, “in deference to the White House,” will comply with the request by either changing the photograph or altering the ad in some other fashion.

The three-paragraph White House dispatch was notable for what it failed to mention--an incendiary Checchi spot that criticizes Rep. Jane Harman of Torrance, one of Checchi’s rivals for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, for voting in favor of the president’s tax-raising, budget-balancing 1993 economic plan. The spot also accuses Harman of voting with Republicans in favor of the 1995 federal government shutdown.

Officials of the Harman campaign have called the Checchi advertisement a gross distortion and distributed quotes from current and former Clinton administration officials essentially disputing the premise. Privately, some at the White House are fuming over the ad.

But officials said Monday that the letter dispatched to Checchi simply follows standard procedure, given his campaign’s failure to obtain White House permission to use the president’s photograph.

“They got the form letter,” said Craig Smith, the White House political director. “It’s not like the first time we’ve done this.”

While presidents rarely endorse candidates in contested party primaries, that has not stopped the candidates for California governor--or their proxies--from trying to wrap themselves in Clinton’s embrace.

In January, the president telephoned Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to discuss her plans as she neared a decision on whether to run for governor. Afterward, aides to Feinstein said Clinton urged Feinstein to enter the race and held out the promise of an endorsement--which White House officials firmly denied.

Feinstein ultimately chose not to run, and since then the White House has sought to publicly steer clear of anything suggesting favor toward one candidate or another.

“We want a Democrat to win and we will support the Democratic nominee, whoever that turns out to be,” Smith said.