WASHINGTON�While President Bill Clinton offered penetrating philosophical views of major issues, interspersed with jokes, including about his own racial roots, Vice President Al Gore and former Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.)�his only major rival for the year 2000 Democratic Party presidential nomination�sought political allies among delegates attending the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Legislative Conference in mid-September.

Saying that the repeated mass murders of innocent people has been the most painful thing he has faced while in office, President Clinton blamed the easy availability of guns for as much, if not more, responsibility as "human evil" for the crisis.

Both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore were invited guests, highlighting the annual awards dinner of the CBC Foundation Sept. 18. Mr. Clinton dismissed the efforts of conservatives who have attempted to minimize the role of firearms in the tragedies, such as the Fort Worth, Texas church-murders and suicide that left eight people dead Sept. 15.

"Of course something horrible happened to that man�s heart when he walked into that church in Texas," Mr. Clinton said. "But we cannot use that as an excuse."

The solution, he said, is sharing responsibility, and a refusal to avoid the facts, not searching for scapegoats or attempting to blame all gun murders simply on human evil.

"The NRA (National Rifle Association) and that crowd has got to stop using arguments like this to avoid facing our sacred responsibility. I think the killing of innocent people en masse in America has been the most painful thing that (the vice president) and I and our families have had to endure in discharging our duties for America," Mr. Clinton said, referring to the spate of school shootings and the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.

For his part, Mr. Gore sought to have it "both ways," praising and proudly associating himself with the work of President Clinton, while promising to make changes if he�s elected.

"At the dawn of a new century, we cannot be weary of well-doing," Mr. Gore said. "We need change that builds on the progress we have made. We need change that works for working families. We need to make this pledge together: that the progress we have made in this century toward full equality and opportunity will be just the beginning of the progress we will make in the 21st century."

In attendance at the awards dinner was a Nation of Islam delegation led by First Lady Khadijah Farrakhan and Min. Farrakhan�s daughter, Maria. Chief of Protocol Claudette Marie Muhammad also was in attendance.

Although he was not accorded a warm and effusive introduction to the CBC banquet�he was not even invited to speak�Mr. Bradley threw his own standing-room-only party with help from Harvard professor Dr. Cornel West, actor Samuel L. Jackson, and film maker Spike Lee.

"Let the word go forth from this place here and now that Bill Bradley is on the move. On the move!" Dr. West said, in his rousing introduction of Mr. Bradley as audience members cheered, whistled and clapped. He presented Mr. Bradley as "the next president who wins the Democratic nomination, as Al Gore runs out of gas and we discover that (Republican front runner) George W. Bush is like cotton candy, with a whole lot on the outside and nothing on the inside."

"Whether I�m in Harlem, or whether I�m in Watts, whether I�m in South Central or in southside Chicago, it�s all the same for me. We�re all in this together and we�re going to move forward if it�s the last thing that I do as president of the United States," Mr. Bradley told the crowd, after announcing that Hollywood fund raisers had been hosted in his behalf by Mr. Lee and actor Laurence Fishburne. Mr. Bradley pulled out all the stops, granting interviews, and inviting prominent Black politicians, including former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry as well as several prominent former athletes. Notable names on Mr. Bradley�s host committee included Roger Wilkins, former assistant attorney general in the Johnson Administration, and nephew of former NAACP leader Roy Wilkins; former D.C. Mayor and Democratic National Committee Vice-Chair Sharon Pratt Kelly; Time-Warner Senior Vice President Tony Fay, who worked for the Clinton-Gore transition team in 1992; and pro-basketball veterans Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Earl Monroe, and Phil Chenier.

At the CBC dinner, Mr. Clinton jokingly claimed the distinction of being the nation�s first Black president. He said comedian Chris Tucker had visited him in the White House, asking to see the Oval Office to prepare himself for an upcoming movie role as the first Black president. "I didn�t have the heart to tell him that I�ve already taken the position," Mr. Clinton said, agreeing�unofficially, of course�with author Toni Morrison.