WHY WELFARE? BETTER TO ASK, WHY POVERTY?(MAIN)

Byline: PETER EDELMAN

Welfare is an issue that epitomizes one of President Clinton's paradigmatic qualities. He uses studied ambiguity to present himself as a walking political Rorschach test. His presentation allows people to see in him what they want to see, the same words somehow communicating positively to ``new'' Democrats and traditional liberals simultaneously.

In 1992, candidate Clinton proposed to ``end welfare as we know it,'' and succeeded in attracting center-right voters without alienating the traditional Democratic base. More conservative voters heard a get-tough message; the party faithful heard jobs. In 1996, having signed the welfare-reform bill and presumably resolved the ambiguity, he went on the campaign trail with a message that, in a second term, he would ``fix'' the bill.

It worked. There was no possible attack on the President from the right on welfare, and his hints of reassurance …