You Can't Be Too Rich Or Too Clean

By Sidney Urquhart

Senator JAY ROCKEFELLER'S decision last week to bow out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination was welcome news for Bush's campaign gurus. After digging into the patrician West Virginian's past, Bush handlers concluded their "opposition research" had turned up virtually nothing negative. The best the Bushies could do was a 1984 book chiding Rockefeller for zigzagging on a few issues. "He made a mistake by pulling out," says a White House adviser. "And we're glad he did."

With reporting by DAVID ELLIS