`HI, Y'ALL, MY NAME'S BILL'; PRESIDENT'S ABILITY TO CHARM THE CHECK OUT OF A LIFELONG REPUBLICAN SHOWS WHAT REALLY HAPPENS AT THOSE COFFEES.

Byline: Jolene Kiolbassa

DEJA vu hits when you least expect it. This time, while watching the tapes of the seemingly infamous White House coffees. A camera shows a man caught up in being in the presence of the president, trying to give Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler some checks. It reminds me of my dad's brush with President Clinton when I worked on the '96 campaign.

My dad - avid Republican, retired B-52 navigator, 33-year Air Force career officer - is a nuke-the-Reds, draft-all-18-year-olds sort of man. A man always replying to the penny ante mass mailing appeals for money from the Republican National Committee, especially those requests aimed at ardent pro-military right-wingers. He once circulated a petition trying to kick '60s activist Tom Hayden out of the California state legislature. Yes, indeed - he is a no-nonsense fellow.

My dad met President Clinton in a photo line in Rancho Cucamonga. We waited for an hour, perhaps longer, in a junior college library as the president spoke to 20,000 supporters outside. With us, the heavies from Clinton's staff - then-Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, Press Secretary Mike McCurry - walked around.

During the brief introduction, the colonel turned into jelly. This was the same guy who kept his cool while flying thousands of hours in bombers loaded with nuclear weapons. There is an oft-used saying that this president makes you feel like the only one in the room. This was so true.

My father finally stammered that he was a lifelong Republican yet would cast his first vote for a Democrat - President Clinton, the man standing before him. The president replied, ``I wish there were more like you,'' and we all laughed.

Dad was sucked into the charisma that is President Clinton. The president impressed Dad with his warmth and graciousness - remarkable traits since it was the end of a long campaign day. Thousands of hands had already been clutched, hundreds of photographs had already been posed for. My father witnessed none of this - all he saw was the leader of the free world making him, an ordinary American, the center of attention.

Indeed, the president's presence was overwhelming. If Mr. Republican had carried his checkbook, he would have slipped a check into Clinton's hand before the charmer had come to the end of the line. Instead, my father had to wait impatiently until the next morning to figure out where to send money (because giving to Democrats was a completely foreign experience). Mr. Clinton, until a short time previous, was Dad's ``enemy,'' which makes the accomplishment even more incredible.

My father's exact motives still elude me. In addition to the charm, perhaps he saw a down-to-earth figure, at odds with the much-demonized Democratic leader portrayed in those Republican mailings. Expecting a ``slick Willie,'' Dad was surprised when he came face-to-face with a warm and witty guy.

Since watching Dad reflexively fork over a few hundred dollars after meeting the president, I have a new take on the president's fund-raising efforts. That man in the White House can separate my father from his wallet faster than I could ever wish - it is simply awe-inspiring.

Republicans may want to learn about ``this guest list'' and ``that coffee'' as the tapes roll. All I care to know is ``How'd he do that?''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) no caption (Bill Clinton)

(2--Color) President Clinton is shown at a luncheon at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington, D.C., earlier this year in a video released by the White House on Wednesday.

Associated Press