Democrats to meet to ease tension

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - In an effort to unify a party that has been divided by a bitterly fought presidential primary campaign, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee said Saturday that party leaders would meet March 25.

The chairman, Terry McAuliffe, said he expects to have former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former Vice Presidents Al Gore and Walter F. Mondale, and all 10 candidates who have run for the nomination at the Washington gathering.

"This will give people hope we're going to be together at some point soon," McAuliffe said.

WASHINGTON - Four-fifths of registered voters who want to take part in Democratic primaries or caucuses say they don't know enough about the presidential candidates to make an informed choice, according to a poll released Saturday.

Voting starts Monday in Iowa, with 16 more contests coming by mid February and the nomination likely to be settled by early March.

The National Annenberg Election Survey of 746 people found that only 17 percent of the likely Democratic voters polled from Jan. 1 to 15 said they knew enough about the candidates to make a choice. Eighty-one percent said they did not know enough.

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