This led to the justified suspicion that his election-year promises notwithstanding, Mr. Bush would preside over a return to budget deficits.

The flyleaf of the book touts it as "more than vague election-year promises."

Coincidentally, Mr. Yeltsin has been making a lot of election-year promises - like, say, a pledge to pay $2.8 billion in back wages.

Last week, he accused Mr. Pataki of making "11th-hour, election-year promises."

President Clinton made an election-year promise to appoint a panel that would address consumer anxieties about the quality of medical care in an era of market-driven health plans.

President Clinton summoned Congressional Democrats to the White House today to seek help in keeping an election-year promise to act swiftly to change campaign finance laws.

Clinton's election-year promise to require drug testing for teen-agers about to receive their driver's licenses was horrible.

Sandra Feldman, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, called the new programs "mostly one-shots that sound suspiciously like election-year promises."

Kevin Nelson, a 41-year-old mechanic, said he had been concerned about election-year promises and unfulfilled pledges made by Mr. James.