ASHINGTON - Bill Bradley said yesterday he did not consult with military officials prior to telling a gay and lesbian magazine that homosexuals should be permitted to serve openly in the military.
''This is a statement of my personal views, my personal belief that gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military,'' the Democratic presidential candidate said on ABC's ''This Week.''
In an interview with The Advocate, released last week, the former New Jersey senator said gays also should be protected under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Bradley said he would not support a California ballot question that seeks to outlaw same-sex marriages, although he said he remains opposed to such unions.
He was asked in the wide-ranging ABC interview whether he consulted with senior military officials about why they view the armed services differently from other areas of government where gays serve openly. Bradley said he did not and did not see a need to.
''There have been gays in the military as long as there's been a military. They've only had to hide,'' he said.
Bradley, who is challenging Vice President Al Gore for the Democratic nomination, described the Clinton's administration ''don't ask, don't tell,'' policy on gays in the military as a near failure. The 1993 policy allows homosexuals to serve in the military as long as they do not discuss their sexual orientation openly. Military superiors also cannot inquire about the sexual orientation of their troops.
On other topics, Bradley said:
Illegal drug use by a presidential candidate mattered. ''I do think that if someone violated the law, they should state whether they did or not,'' said Bradley, who has used marijuana ''but never cocaine.'' Questions about possible past illegal drug use hounded GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush last month until he stated - without elaboration - that he had not used illegal drugs within the past 25 years.
The booming economy was more responsible for substantial drops in the number of people on welfare than a 1996 reform law.
He would have voted against the two articles of impeachment against President Clinton stemming from the Monica Lewinsky investigation.
