|
 |
| Former President Bill Clinton salutes the crowd
Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 after speaking at an Early Vote rally in
Miami. (AP) |
It was vintage Bill Clinton, a lip-biting, thumb-wagging,
center-of-attention performance. Seven weeks after quadruple bypass heart
surgery, looking pale and unusually thin, the former president came back
to give John Kerry a sendoff for the final week of the campaign —
promoting his own presidency as well — and bluntly framed the campaign
between Kerry and President Bush.
"You've got a clear choice between two strong men with great
convictions and philosophies, different policies with very different
consequences for this city, this state, our nation and the world," Clinton
told thousands of Democrats crammed shoulder-to-shoulder inside three city
blocks.
Nobody seemed to notice that he had just called
Bush strong, with equal billing to Kerry. Then again, few in the crowd
seemed to be there to hear Kerry who, according to polls, is supported by
a political base united in its disdain
for Bush more than its enthusiasm for the Democratic nominee.
"Who did I come to see?" asked Lisa Jackson, 44, of Upper Darby, Pa, in
a tone that suggested the answer was obvious. "Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton.
I can see John Kerry any time, but this is Bill Clinton."
Kerry hopes that Clinton can help turn out
Democratic voters, especially blacks like Jackson who are lukewarm
about their nominee. After
the rally, Kerry and Clinton held a conference call with black ministers
across the country and had lunch with state politicians and "as many other
hanger-oners who could fit in the room," said Kerry spokesman Mike
McCurry.
Clinton plans to campaign without Kerry this weekend in the tossup
states of Nevada and New Mexico as well as his home state of Arkansas, a
GOP-leaning state where polls suggest that Bush's lead has shrunk.
Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky made him a political pariah in
Democrat Al Gore's race against Bush four years ago, but now the former
president has a higher approval ratings than Bush or Kerry in some polls.
Robert Maris, 40, of Philadelphia peered through binoculars at the
stage two blocks away. "I came here to see my man," he said. "Bill
Clinton. I hope he brings his best stuff."
There were flashes of Clinton at his best from the moment he took the
stage with Kerry, waving to the crowd before acknowledging the applause
and his medical recovery with one 12-word opening.
"If this isn't good for my heart," he said, putting his hand to his
chest, "I don't know what is."
And so began a speech that ran about 1,400 words, nearly half as long
as the one to follow from Kerry.
"From time to time, I have been called the Comeback Kid. In eight days,
John Kerry's going to make America the comeback country," he said.
Clinton gave himself the comeback moniker 12 years ago, putting a good
face on his second-place finish in New Hampshire's Democratic primary.
In making his case for Kerry, Clinton used a rhetorical tool that dates
to his days as Arkansas' governor: statistics. Nobody uses numbers like
Clinton. There are 249,000 new cases of poverty in Pennsylvania. Some
333,000 people who lost health insurance. Unemployment is up 26 percent.
About 140,000 unemployed workers were kicked off job training and 88,000
cops have been pulled off the streets.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-10-26 11:12