WASHINGTON - With a radio address to the nation this morning, Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland is serving as an increasingly prominent Democratic voice for restoring corporate responsibility, a potentially potent issue in the congressional elections this year.

By delivering his party's response to President Bush's radio address on the rising incidence of corporate financial mismanagement, he is assuming his most public role since he was a young congressman who helped bring President Richard M. Nixon to the brink of impeachment.

As chairman of the Banking Committee and the author of a bill that would tighten accounting standards, Sarbanes is a Democratic point man in a drive to persuade voters that Republicans fostered a culture in which companies felt they could get away with any accounting method that boosted profits.

'A real threat'

"Since the collapse of Enron Corp., it's been clear the problems we confront are by no means unique to one company or one industry," Sarbanes will tell his radio audience today, according to an advance text.

"Our second-largest telecommunications provider, WorldCom, acknowledged that its books were off by nearly $4 billion - $4 billion.

"Financial irresponsibility and dishonesty pose a real threat to our economic recovery and to the retirement security and investments of millions of working families," the address continues.

"We must pass strong legislation to restore confidence in our economy. The time to act is now."

Democrats have been hoping to find an overarching theme to help their congressional candidates. They have returned eagerly to corporate responsibility - an issue that flared after the Enron debacle only to dim after a few weeks.

Recent revelations of financial misdeeds by other companies - including Rite Aid, Tyco, Global Crossing, Xerox and especially WorldCom - have given Democrats renewed hope that they can benefit from emphasizing the Republicans' traditional ties to business. Ripple effects from the corporate disasters have spread beyond employees and shareholders to the financial markets and the economy.

Increasing concern

Meanwhile, polls suggest that voters are increasingly concerned about the economy and that their trust in Bush's ability to fix economic problems is declining.

According to the Pew Research Center, Bush's approval rating for handling the economy slipped to 53 percent in a survey released this week, down from 60 percent in January. Only a third say Bush is doing all he can to benefit the economy - off from 48 percent in January.

"The American people are very concerned about it, and they should be," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat. "They are going to be asking, 'So, what is the position of either party?'

"We're not in favor of government intrusion, but we are in favor of a regulatory environment that assures confidence, that assures that when laws are broken, they are enforced and people go to jail," Daschle said, calling the Republican stance on corporate abuses "laissez faire."

To drive home the point, Daschle chose Sarbanes to deliver today's radio address. And the majority leader has scheduled an accounting reform bill, approved this month by the Banking Committee, to be the first item of business when the Senate returns from its Fourth of July recess on July 8.

'A higher calling'

But Bush and congressional Republicans are scrambling to prevent the Democrats from tarring them with the misbehavior of corporate America.

The president will address the issue in his radio address today, and he provided a preview yesterday at a fund-raiser for Rep. Constance A. Morella of Montgomery County.

"I'm not concerned about the fundamentals of our economy; I think they're very strong," Bush said. "People are concerned, however, about whether or not the balance sheets of corporate America are open, whether or not the numbers are real.

"Corporate America," he said, "has got to understand there's a higher calling than trying to fudge the numbers, trying to slip a billion here or a billion there and may hope nobody notices - that you have a responsibility in this country to always be aboveboard."

On the day the WorldCom news broke, Senate Republicans dropped their procedural objections to Sarbanes' bill. Daschle predicted that the measure would pass easily.

The White House prefers a weaker, House-passed version. But the final product will likely depend on the health of the economy as the congressional session ends in the fall.

If the economy - and job growth in particular - picks up, corporate accountability may well fade again as an issue before the November election. But should the economy worsen, both parties will be eager to show that they have acted to address corporate abuses.

'A masterful job'

Sarbanes, a highly methodical lawmaker, is not well known outside Maryland. When the Enron scandal broke in December, the senator was in a position - as Banking Committee chairman - to propose some remedy for accounting misdeeds. But he took so long to produce his bill that Daschle was unsure that he would have time to bring it to a Senate vote this year.

Today, though, Sarbanes will be speaking as the person in charge of the hottest bill on the Hill.

"Senator Sarbanes deserves the acknowledgement of leadership," Daschle said. "He did a masterful job" of winning broad support for his bill.