BENNETT SAYS HE SET BAD EXAMPLE, WILL QUIT GAMBLING

WASHINGTON -- Virtues champion William Bennett admitted Monday that his
history of heavy gambling was out of sync with his conservative message on
morals and family values. He said he would kick the habit.

"A number of stories in the media have reported that I have engaged in
high-stakes gambling over the past decade," Bennett said in a statement.
"It is true that I have gambled large sums of money. I have also complied
with all laws on reporting wins and losses.

"Nevertheless, I have done too much gambling, and this is not an example I
wish to set. Therefore, my gambling days are over."

His statement was released three days after Newsweek and The Washington
Monthly magazine reported that Bennett had lost as much as $8 million over
the past decade playing video poker and high-dollar slots in Atlantic City
and Las Vegas.

The magazines reviewed internal casino documents, including some that
showed Bennett losing up to $500,000 at a time. There were no accusations
that Bennett did anything illegal, and he told the magazines that he had
"come out pretty close to even" over the years.

On Sunday, Bennett's wife, Elayne, said her husband was not addicted to
gambling.

Nonetheless, Bennett's statement acknowledged that publicity about his high
rolling was not in keeping with the public image he has honed.

Bennett, who was Education secretary under President Reagan and drug czar
under the first President Bush, is a founder of the conservative think tank
Empower America. In 1993, he wrote the best seller The Book of Virtues.
Since then, he has been a prolific public speaker pulling in $50,000 per
speech.

Don Walker of the Harry Walker Agency, which represents Bennett, said no
groups had called to cancel a speech.

"We don't market him as a saint," he said. "We market him as a speaker on
education and on terrorism, and the fact that he did some gambling legally
and openly is not going to affect his speaking on these subjects." He
added: "People have told me that he smokes too much, eats too much and
gambles too much. Now he's given up two out of three." Bennett promised to
give up smoking after he was named drug czar in 1989.

Liberal commentators delighted in the embarrassing publicity.

"Bennett has been exposed as a humbug artist who ought to be pelted off the
public stage if he lacks the decency to slink quietly away," columnist
Michael Kinsley wrote in Monday's Washington Post.

Some conservatives applauded Bennett for confronting the issue. "According
to the Bible, 'All have fallen short of the glory of God,' " said Charles
Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries. Colson served time for his
role in the Watergate coverup.