OUTH BEND, Ind. - A burst of aggressive campaign tactics yesterday provided a clear sign that the presidential race may be turning nasty in its final phase.
In a television ad criticizing the Clinton administration's campaign contributions from China, an obscure group from Texas adapted the famous 1964 ''Daisy Ad'' that suggested Barry Goldwater would lead the country into nuclear war. Even before the ad ran, it was denounced by the Gore campaign, and the Bush campaign asked for the ad to be pulled. Last night, the sponsors decided not to run the spot.
Meanwhile, a moderate Republican group prepared TV ads for Ralph Nader in states where support for the Green Party candidate could be large enough to tip the election in George W. Bush's favor.
And in Michigan, Bush came under attack in a series of phone calls paid for by the Michigan Democratic Coordinated Campaign. In one of the recorded calls, which is being sent by automatic dialer into Michigan homes, a woman named Ann Friday describes how her husband died in a Texas nursing home because of ''neglect.''
''When George W. Bush ran for governor, he promised to improve the quality of life for nursing home residents,'' Friday says, according to a transcript of the call. ''But Goveror Bush broke that promise when he signed legislation that weakened nursing home standards. Since then, nursing home complaints in Texas have doubled.''
She continues: ''Tell Governor Bush to stop breaking promises and start fighting to protect American seniors.''
Friday sued the nursing home for her husband's death and received a $1.25 million settlement, according to material provided by Democrats. Democrats stood by the calls, but Bush campaign officials called the tactic ''despicable'' and ''scummy.''
The Friday call was accompanied by two others, one by Charlotte Cherry, a Houston woman who said Bush took money from corporations that pollute and ''allowed them to keep polluting'' while her children suffer. Actor Ed Asner is the voice in a third call that says Bush will jeopardize Social Security benefits.
Governor John Engler of Michigan, a Republican, described the calls as ''a stealth campaign designed to be below the radar and designed to appeal to fears or prejudices.''
Bush officials called on Vice President Al Gore to ''show leadership'' by ordering the calls stopped, just as Bush earlier this year asked the Republican National Committee to stop running ads that took several comments by Gore out of context.
''They should apologize,'' Bush communications director Karen Hughes said. ''It crosses all boundaries of reasonable political discourse.''
Democrats, meanwhile, were expressing outrage over a TV ad that accuses Gore of taking campaign contributions from Chinese donors in exchange for nuclear technology. The ad was scheduled to run in several hotly contested states.
''Red China was given access and sold vital technology that will give China the ability to threaten our homes with long-range nuclear warheads,'' the voice-over says, while a little girl is seen plucking petals from a daisy. After showing a nuclear detonation, the ad urges viewers to vote Republican.
''I don't believe that the American people are going to stand for this,'' Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph I. Lieberman said yesterday. ''This kind of politics is not going to work.''
The ad was produced by a company called Aretino Industries of McAllen, Texas. Carey Cramer, a spokesman for the organization, distributed information about the spot, but would not say who was paying for the ad.
Bush officials said they did not know who had funded the ad, and asked the sponsor to cancel it. ''Governor Bush does not condone this kind of anonymous attack,'' Hughes said.
Decrying ''political correctness,'' Cramer last night said the ads would not run, but said: ''We're not pulling it because we think there's anything wrong with the ad. We still stand behind the ad.''
Yet another ad, this one sponsored by the Republican Leadership Council, uses the words of Nader to attack Gore. The ad, which will begin running Monday in Wisconsin, Washington, and Oregon, uses clips of the Green Party candidate criticizing Gore in a speech Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
''Al Gore is suffering from election year delusion if he thinks his record on the environment is anything to be proud of,'' says Nader, who speaks of ''eight years of principles betrayed and promises broken.''
In the same speech, Nader called Bush ''a big corporation running for president disguised as a person.'' But comments critical of Bush were not included in the ad.
Democrats suggested that the ad will backfire if voters turned off by deceptive politics learn who is behind them. And even some Bush advisers say they're concerned that the ads will remind voters that supporting Nader helps Bush, and they fear a backlash if voters assume that Bush is behind the tactic.
Mark Miller, executive director of the Republican Leadership Council, a moderate GOP group, said the Bush campaign had nothing to do with the new ad.
Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.
