THE DEMOCRATS

JERRY BROWN

BORN: April 7, 1938, in San Francisco.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in Latin and Greek from the University of California, 1961; law degree from Yale Law School, 1964.

CAREER: Private law practice, 1965-70; member of Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees, 1969-70; California secretary of state, 1971-75; California governor, 1975-83; private law practice, 1983-91; chairman, California Democratic Party, 1989-91.

PERSONAL: Brown has never married.

.On his creation of the California Conservation Corps: "In 15 years, 15000 young men and women have gotten off the streets, gone into the High Sierras, fought fires, developed manhood, womanhood, good citizenship," Brown said last month. "This democracy and this government is controlled not by the American people but by those who are bringing it down."

.On diversity in government: Half the members of Brown's first Cabinet were women, and he named the first black and first Hispanic to the state Supreme Court as well as its first woman chief justice.

.On judicial appointments: "If you appoint people of stature, who have been around a long time, who have a track record...that will give us a lot more than the Supreme Court that has been very much tilted to the right, and following a litmus test."

.On the American political system: "There is a terrific number of ideas if we get people outside the club," he said in the Democrats December debate. "And my objection to this whole political process and why I've gotten into it--its a club too closely controlled."

BILL CLINTON

BORN: Aug. 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree from Georgetown School of Foreign Service, 1968-70; Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, 1968-70; law degree from Yale law School, 1973.

CAREER: Law professor at University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, 1974-76; Arkansas attorney general, 1976-78; Arkansas governor, 1979-80 and 1983-present; attorney, 1981-82.

PERSONAL Married to Hillary Rodham Clinton, a lawyer. One daughter.

.On his performance as governor: Clinton says he's done as much as possible for Arkansas "in the absence of a national vision and national leadership."

.On higher education programs: He wants guaranteed college loans for Americans willing to repay the money or provide a public service. In Arkansas, lower-and middle-class high school students with passing grades who stay out of trouble are guaranteed $1000 college scholarships under a 1991 law. He also wants apprenticeship programs for Americans not going to college.

.On spending: He wants national spending tied to growth in the economy. In Arkansas, the conservative budget system that predates Clinton forbids spending beyond what state fiscal experts predict will be collected in taxes.

.On his Arkansas environmental record: The governor says he tried to push for environmental reforms early in his tenure "but no-body was there," During his first term, he drew the wrath of the timber industry when he called for limits on clear cutting.

PAUL TSONGAS

BORN: Feb.14, 1941, in Lowell, Mass.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College, 1962; law degree from Yale University, 1967; master's in public administration, Harvard University, 1973.

CAREER:Elected to City Council in Lowell, 1968; deputy assistant attorney general Massachusetts, 1969-71; elected to Congress for two terms in 1974; elected to Senate in 1978, served one term and left Washington to recuperate from illness; private law practice; returns to public life in late 1980s, served on state education board and on development commission for Cape cod.

PERSONAL Married to the former "Nicki" Sauvage, a lawyer. Three children.

.On being pro-business: "Democrats are going to have to go back to the original act--the creation of wealth," he asserts in his 80-page campaign manifesto. "Wake up Democrats...A marriage--note the word is marriage, not liaison--with corporate America is essential."

.On the economy; He endorses changing antitrust laws to allow joint business ventures, reducing the capital gains tax, providing tax credit for research and development projects and eliminating requirements for companies to file quarterly reports.

.On traditional liberal stands: He supports abortion rights and gay civil rights. He speaks of "recycling ethics" and the "mighty spiritual bonds that makes us a people."

.On his departure from some liberal stands: He supports the death penalty in certain instances, advocates nuclear power as a cleaner form of energy and wants a universal health care program that would include strict cost controls.

.On his split personality, merging the liberal social activist with the money-minded manager: "I was a boy who worked in his father's dry cleaners and a college graduate who went to the Peace Corps."