Federal File

When it came to persuading Washington state voters to back a ballot initiative on charter schools, President Clinton wanted nothing to do with the issue.

In the final push in the failed campaign for Initiative 177, sponsors thought they'd found the perfect bipartisan pitchmen: Mr. Clinton and his GOP challenger, Bob Dole. The measure would have allowed residents of districts to vote to make them "renewed school districts" in which "nonprofit organizations may operate publicly funded independent public schools with parental choice and revised state regulation."

For a short while, the president appeared to be...