"Nobody believes we can get it be-hind us," said one senior Administration adviser.

A Necessary First Step' "What is happening now is a necessary first step," a key Administration adviser said.

The Iran-contra Congressional committees found that Administration legal advisers differed on the issue.

One Administration adviser acknowledged today that the attack "strikes a chord" with some voters, and that many of Mr. Bush's aides believe he must offer more than a usual response.

"There may be an opening here," Robert L. Gallucci, the Assistant Secretary of State who is the top Administration adviser on North Korea, said.

A senior Administration adviser said Mr. Clinton had also feared that the land and water debates would ultimately damage his reelection chances.

Administration political advisers have long seen the elderly as an important source of support for the Clinton plan.

Still, what one Administration adviser said was also true: "The speech will shut up all those people who said that he was wiped out, couldn't think straight."

And other aides began in 1994 to monitor Mr. Hubbell's legal and personal situation, according to Administration advisers and White House documents.

"Today was one of our typically vacuous senior staff meetings and it didn't come up," another Administration adviser said on Friday.