AMY DRISCOLL, BETH REINHARD AND JAY WEAVER

 President Clinton bragged about the nation's prosperity and defended affirmative
 action during a Democratic fund-raising swing through South Florida on Saturday
 night -- but local politicians, protesters and a Cuban exile leader tried to bend his
 ear about Elian Gonzalez.

 Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas lobbied Clinton about the young Cuban boy just
 before the President departed from Miami International Airport on Saturday night.

 ``Alex, what are we going to do about this 6-year-old boy?'' Clinton asked the
 mayor.

 Penelas told Clinton that the father, who wants his son returned home to Cuba,
 should come to Miami. ``I think the father will be singing a different tune without
 the pressure and coercion of Fidel Castro,'' Penelas told Clinton.

 Afterward, Penelas said he felt there was a ``ray of hope'' for Elian's future here.

 Last week, Clinton said he did not want politics to interfere with the legal-custody
 battle over Elian between his father in Cuba and his relatives in Miami. The boy
 lost his mother on a tragic trip across the Straits of Florida during Thanksgiving
 week.

 Clinton has said he wants ``the law to be followed'' in determining Elian's fate.
 Crying out for the U.S. government to let the Cuban boy stay in Miami, about 30
 protesters shouted ``Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!'' at the President's motorcade
 as he arrived for a congressional fund-raiser at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.

 Inside the Biltmore, Jorge Mas Santos, chairman of the Cuban American National
 Foundation, hand-delivered a letter from Elian's Miami relatives to Clinton's deputy
 chief of staff, Maria Echaveste, asking the President to meet with Elian.

 ``The President hasn't seen it yet,'' deputy press secretary Barry Toiv said. ``I
 expect he will see it at some point.''

 GORE STEPS IN

 On Saturday, Vice President Al Gore, in Orlando for the state Democratic
 convention, said Elian's status should be settled by an appropriate tribunal. Gore,
 who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, stressed that -- if he
 were in charge today -- he would want a visa issued to Elian's father to let him
 make up his own mind on American ground.

 ``I would like to see the boy's father have a chance to express himself without
 intimidation or fear,'' Gore told The Herald.

 Clinton started his day in Orlando, then proceeded to a Fort Lauderdale
 fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, and the congressional
 reception at the Biltmore Hotel.

 Speaking at the Keiser College fund-raiser for Hastings, Clinton decried a petition
 drive by businessman Ward Connerly to abolish affirmative action in Florida.

 AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

 ``Going forward with affirmative action the right way strengthens the economy and
 makes us all better off,'' Clinton said to the racially diverse crowd of about 300
 people.

 Clinton left Hastings' event and flew on to Miami International Airport, where he
 was greeted by major Democratic fund-raiser Chris Korge as well as a group of
 children with AIDS.

 The President traveled to the Biltmore Hotel, where protesters waved signs out
 front in support of keeping Elian in Miami. They expressed fear that Clinton will
 send the boy back to his father in Cuba.

 ``We can't send that child back to the murderer of his mother, Fidel Castro,'' said
 Sasha Tirador, 26, a student at Miami-Dade Community College. ``That is why
 she came here in the first place.''

 FOCUS ON ECONOMY

 Inside, Clinton spoke of the nation's record-setting economic boom to 60 people
 who attended the $5,000-per-couple reception for the Democratic Senate
 Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

 Clinton capped off the evening at a $25,000-per-couple dinner at Korge's Pinecrest
 home, where the menu included duck truffles, medallion of lobster and caviar.

 Korge's Mediterranean-style house, with pool, tennis court and basketball court,
 wowed the President, who got off the best one-liner of the night.

 ``I want to thank Chris and Irene for welcoming me back to this humble abode that
 makes the White House look like public housing,'' Clinton said. ``It's amazing.''

 Herald staff writers Sandra Marquez Garcia and Mark Silva contributed to this
 report.

                     Copyright 1999 Miami Herald