Beatty Beats Around Bush

12/30/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

Warren Beatty says he won't let "moneyed, honeyed voices of ridicule and reaction" stop him from considering a Presidential bid -- not that he said yea or nay about actually running for the office. In a speech to the Southern California Americans for Democratic Action (considered Hollywood's liberal elite) Wednesday night, Beatty drew several rounds of applause but didn't deliver what the crowd and the press have been waiting to hear: the answer to the big question. That may come later in the campaign season, though after last night's speech, it seems unlikely. Meanwhile, the "Bulworth" star, 62, did promise to champion the causes of American liberalism, whether he runs or not. He criticized the Democratic Party for looking Republican and questioned whether Democratic Presidential candidates Al Gore and Bill Bradley are true to the party's tradition.