he widow of Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts is accusing Vice President Al Gore of using the sort of negative advertising that she alleged helped destroy Tsongas's presidential hopes in the 1992 election.
In a political ad paid for by the campaign of former senator Bill Bradley and scheduled to begin airing on New England television this morning, Niki Tsongas, a cochairman of the Bradley campaign in Massachusetts, says:
''Like my husband, Paul, Bill Bradley is a passionate supporter of working people, and he too is challenging us with bold vision for America. But what disappoints me now is - just as with Paul - Bill's record is being distorted.''
Paul Tsongas won the New Hampshire primary in 1992 with 34 percent of the vote, but his campaign never recovered from attacks launched on him by Bill Clinton during the subsequent Florida primary, where the Clinton camp accused him of wanting to undercut Social Security and of not supporting Israel.
Without naming Bradley, Gore's advertising says the vice president is ''the only Democratic candidate who saves Medicare ... the only Democratic candidate who preserves Medicaid ... the only Democratic candidate who reforms health care in a way that protects seniors and working families.''
In a telephone interview last night, Niki Tsongas, who now is director of external affairs at Middlesex Community College, said: ''Social Security and health care are complicated issues. They require careful consideration by the American people. ... If you scare people, it makes the problems much harder to solve. It's trading short-term advantage for long-term disadvantage to the public interest.''
Tsongas said the suggestions that Bradley would damage or destroy Medicare and Medicaid were deep distortions of Bradley's proposals and were aimed at keeping the public from being able to evaluate calmly the specifics of the candidates' proposals.
''I have great respect for the ability of the people of New Hampshire and the American people to take issues seriously and try to reason them through,'' she said. To block that by scaring people, she said, ''undermines the presidency and those who seek it. Those who seek that office should treat it with a little more honor.''
Chris Lehane, Gore's press secretary, said that if Gore ''sees an idea or policy proposal that will hurt working families - such as not supporting Medicare or getting rid of Medicaid or not putting forth a national education plan - he will speak out against those ideas.''
Lehane added: ''This is a campaign for president of the United States. It is not about shooting free throws.''
Niki Tsongas said yesterday that the Bradley campaign contacted her Saturday about making the ad, which was filmed Sunday at her home in Lowell. She said several versions were filmed, and she had not yet seen the final product. They all had about the same content, and none named Gore, she said.
Dennis Kanin, a Bradley supporter who was Paul Tsongas's campaign manager in 1992, said in a telephone interview that both the technique and the motive of Clinton in 1992 and Gore now were identical.
''They characterize people with bold vision as risks to the American people,'' Kanin said. ''The motive is winning - winning at any cost. Bill Clinton and Al Gore are not the only people in politics who practice this, but it is unfortunate.''
Kanin said that if Gore debated health care issues without distorting Bradley's proposals, the vice president's critique would lack credibility, and it would be clear to the public that Bradley's motivation was to strengthen the system.
