Some Of His Best Friends

By Janice Castro

IF BILL CLINTON MOVES TO THE WHITE HOUSE NEXT JANUARY, some established black leaders will lose influence. Clinton's strongest ties in the black community are with younger elected officials from the South, like Congressmen JOHN LEWIS of Georgia and MIKE ESPY of Mississippi, with whom he shares the experience of building black-white coalitions. Many Northern black leaders represent urban districts with far fewer whites. Observes a black friend of Clinton: "They don't have to win white votes, so they're more suspicious of Bill, particularly when he courts white Southerners."