ASHINGTON - Presidential candidate Bill Bradley, accused by rival Al Gore of being a disloyal Democrat, said yesterday that he toyed with the idea of leaving the party in 1995 and mounting an independent White House bid ''to revitalize democracy.''
But, in an interview with The Associated Press, Bradley said he never seriously considered it, however.
''I took no real steps toward it,'' he said.
Bradley's flirtation with a third-party bid - along with several of his Senate votes - have become ammunition for Gore since primary polling established Bradley as a major threat to the vice president's nomination quest.
Suggesting that Gore's strategy has irked him, the former New Jersey senator said he is fighting the urge to retaliate with attacks of his own.
''The one word that comes to mind is discipline,'' the Hall of Fame basketball player said by telephone from his New Jersey headquarters. ''It's part of the discipline of competition.''
Gore has criticized Bradley for:
Casting a vote in favor of President Ronald Reagan's 1981 spending cuts, which slashed Democratic-favored programs.
Voting against ethanol subsidies. Ethanol, which is distilled from corn and blended with gasoline, is popular in Iowa, the initial presidential caucus state.
Leaving the Senate after his third term ended in 1997, two years after Republicans took over Congress.
After announcing in the summer of 1995 that he would not seek a fourth term, Bradley fueled speculation about a challenge to Clinton by refusing to rule out an independent campaign for the White House.
Bradley said he talked to ''a few people, close friends, and advisers'' about the possibility of running as an independent.
''I said basically, `What do you think of this?''' Bradley said, adding that he didn't ask the question for long.
He participated in two telephone calls with a handful of politicians reportedly plotting an independent run for the White House.
''It was apparent very quickly that my feeling is: I'm a Democrat. I've always been a Democrat. You've got to make a change in the Democratic Party. You've got to move the party back to where you see it should be,'' Bradley said.
''I didn't rule it out immediately when people asked me because I was concerned at the time - as I am now - that democracy for a lot of people is like a broken thermometer. You turn the dial and nothing happens. And I thought that might be a way to revitalize democracy.''
