Overtones of Presidential Politics Mark Bentsen’s Campaign-Style Visit in Iowa : Democrats: The Texas senator is conducting a serious reconnaissance of this critical terrain.

AMES, Iowa —  If this is October, 1989, it must be time to start the 1992 presidential campaign.

That’s the way it seemed here in Iowa last weekend when Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, the 1988 Democratic vice presidential candidate, showed up to address a state party dinner and appear at two other local fund-raising functions.

Given Bentsen’s prominence as a potential Democratic presidential contender and Iowa’s importance as the state whose precinct caucuses start the official struggle for convention delegates every four years, party activists here regard the weekend visit as kicking off the exhibition season in the presidential campaign.

“I enjoy the speculation,” Bentsen told a press conference here. “But I’m not running for President.”

Nevertheless, the 68-year-old senator’s actions indicate that at the very least he was conducting a serious reconnaissance of this critical political terrain. He dispatched Jack L. Martin, his top political trouble-shooter, to lead his advance team into the state. He prevailed upon George Christian, the late President Lyndon B. Johnson’s press secretary, to craft the 30-minute address that he delivered at the 51st annual Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner, the Iowa party’s premiere event.

And while the 1,500 guests consumed their breaded chicken and scalloped potatoes, Bentsen diligently table-hopped his way around the hall. Bentsen has a considerable stock of good will here as a result of his performance during the 1988 campaign, during which Iowa gave the Democratic ticket of Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and Bentsen a bigger share of its votes than any other state except Rhode Island.

In his speech, Bentsen sought to use that rapport to urge the Iowa Democratic Party, regarded as a hotbed of liberal activism, to move toward the political center. But his admonitions to Democrats to show “that we care more for the crime victim than we do for the criminal” and to forsake “ideological litmus tests” were greeted with stony silence.

Still, if Bentsen really does want to be President, as close associates say, there were enough cheers here to nurture his ambition. The larger question raised by some Democratic professionals is whether he has the commitment and sensitivity required to make a successful run for the nomination. They cite his decision, disclosed last summer, to rejoin three exclusive clubs that he had quit after Dukakis chose him as a running mate.

Although the clubs’ bylaws do not formally discriminate, at least two of them do not have black members, according to Bentsen’s staff. Pressed for an explanation, Bentsen, in a telephone interview last week, said: “I quit in deference to the fellow (Dukakis) who was head of the ticket so he didn’t have to explain or defend clubs he didn’t know anything about. “I rejoined because I was no longer in the position of being second on somebody else’s ticket, and I had lifelong friends in those clubs. And I like to play a good game of tennis and they gave me the opportunity to do that.”

Whatever Bentsen’s strengths and weaknesses, interviews with Democratic activists here and elsewhere in the country suggest that at least four other party leaders are being taken seriously as 1992 possibilities--New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr. and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Here is an early look at their prospects:

--Bradley. In 1984 and 1988, the former professional basketball star resisted entreaties that he make a run for President. But 1992 will be different, his supporters want to believe. They cite the 46-year-old senator’s far-flung efforts to finance his 1990 reelection campaign. This contest is expected to be a breeze, leaving Bradley with a substantial surplus in his campaign war chest and a national network of contributors to fund a drive for the White House.

Bradley’s great strength is his appeal to the political center, a territory that his party desperately needs, based on his luminous resume. “Everybody who has a child would like him to grow up to be a Princeton graduate, all-American athlete and Rhodes scholar,” says Anne Campbell, a Democratic National Committee member from New Jersey. Bradley’s problem: The high-minded issues that most interest him, like Third World debt and tax reform, are not the sort that ignite the hearts of Democratic activists.

--Cuomo. His fundamental appeal is loud and clear--to the traditional liberals who still play a major role in the party. His strengths are his eloquence, rivaled only by Jackson among the Democratic candidates, and his forceful personality, which supporters claim helps him reach middle-of-the-road voters.

One problem for the 57-year-old governor is that the aggressive style that appeals to his admirers strikes others as abrasive. Another problem is finding the time to pursue his candidacy if, as expected, he seeks and wins a third term in Albany next year. His chances would be brightest, most analysts agree, if the economy slumps badly and voters feel the need for a strong dose of government activism to spur recovery.

--Gore. His candidacy would certainly attempt to claim the South as a base, a considerable asset. Another potential plus is that he ran before in 1988. The question is whether Gore can benefit from that experience. He failed in the last nomination derby after his early success in the Super Tuesday primaries in the South because he was unable to develop a message to appeal to voters outside that region.

As he gears up for what is expected to be an easy 1990 reelection campaign, the 41-year-old Gore has been laboring overtime to take advantage of increasing interest in the environment, churning out articles, such as “The Ecology of Survival.” But, as one 1988 adviser concedes, Gore has not been closely linked to “people kind of issues,” such as health care and child care.

--Jackson. Much of the current boom for Jackson to run for mayor of the District of Columbia comes from Democrats who privately hope that managing that city would keep him too busy to run for the presidency again and thus make it simpler for the Democrats to choose their next nominee.

As a candidate, the 48-year-old Jackson presumably once again could count on almost universal support from blacks, as well as backing from what’s left of the New Left and disgruntled factory workers and farm hands. His big problems would be to overcome opposition to his liberal views and the belief that he could not be elected because of his race.