Clinton Refines Campaign Art of Personal Politics

A black woman holding a small boy seemed inconsolable. She sobbed with heaving breaths as she waited in the crowd outside Independence Hall on Monday for Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton to inch toward her.

“We need you,” she cried, clutching Clinton’s right hand.

Momentarily stunned by the woman’s unfocused but obviously emotional request, Clinton embraced her and promised that as President he would work hard to make the country better. With little time and more hands to touch, the candidate moved on.

As he did so, the woman’s voice swelled with urgency: “Please win, Bill. I really need for you to win.”

It was just one moment on the campaign trail with Clinton, and not all that typical. Even Clinton’s most ardent supporters usually manage to control their emotions when he passes by. But it tells part of the story of the recent days of his candidacy. Many of the people turning out for his rallies--Monday in Pennsylvania, last week in the Midwest, last month on his first bus tour after he won the nomination--seem to be searching for someone to believe in. Clinton tries to oblige.

For the most part, the crowds have been large and excited. They may be bolstered by many who are more anti-President Bush than pro-Bill Clinton, but the Arkansas governor seeks to win them all over with a message of change and tries to make them feel that they are all a part of something. He thrusts himself into the crowds, encouraging them to touch him, and obligingly signs autographs.

“He wants to make people feel they are a part of the campaign,” said his press secretary, Dee Dee Myers. “It’s his way of getting the public on board in a very personal way.”

In Philadelphia, more than 4,000 people thronged into Independence Park, which surrounds the historic hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The crowd overflowed into surrounding streets as Clinton spoke for about 30 minutes, reciting the basics of his stump speech, which he has honed from delivering several times a day.

As he has before, he warned his audience not to lose courage when it comes to voting for change in November. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle, he said, will “tell you every reason in the wide world why you ought to be afraid of Bill Clinton and Al Gore.”

“When they raise their old flag of fear, you tell them, ‘No thanks, this time we’re going to vote on our hop” Clinton said.

Then, alluding to a dispute within the GOP over Bush’s economic program, Clinton said: “Even in their own party they can’t hold things together. Let’s ask the President, before he spends all of the next two weeks jumping on Al Gore and Bill Clinton, where do you stand on your own leadership? . . . What are you going to do for America if you win?”

The Philadelphia audience was also notable because it was one of the rare times the campaign has attracted large numbers of enthusiastic blacks.

Although polls indicate that black voters are very likely to vote for Clinton, campaign officials have been concerned about the paltry numbers of blacks who have attended Clinton rallies.

“I noticed that many of the people here were African-Americans,’ said Myers, the campaign’s spokeswoman. “It was the largest turnout (of blacks) we’ve had in a setting like this.”

For some, like the 30-something black man at the Philadelphia rally who pledged his support, Clinton’s visit recalled the ‘60s and a more glorious time for Democrats.

“You sound just like Bobby Kennedy,” the man shouted as Clinton shook his hand.

Obviously delighted at the comparison, Clinton beamed.

The analogy is one the campaign tries to reinforce. Some of its literature features the photo of a young Clinton shaking hands with President John F. Kennedy, and rallies often are in places bearing the Kennedy name.

Another excited supporter--this one white--used a more recent comparison: “I’m going to vote for you. I haven’t been this excited since President Carter was running for reelection.”

Then there were the women.

Many of those who come to hear and see Clinton are clearly impressed with his schoolboy looks and Southern charm.

“He’s so handsome,” said one after he signed her campaign placard.

Another woman was not satisfied with a handshake. She grabbed him, and, before the Secret Service could react, she planted a kiss squarely on his mouth.

The flip side of that excitement is the cynicism and the caution of some who turn out for the rallies. One balding fellow repeatedly reminded the swooning women and giggling teen-age girls of Clinton’s alleged marital infidelities. “Careful, ladies, don’t get too close to Bill,” he said over and over.

After the tumultuous rally, Clinton appeared at a well-attended fund-raiser in a heavily Republican suburb, Radnor. It was at the home of Dr. Francis J. Bonner, a registered Republican who hosted a GOP fund-raiser two years ago--featuring a speech by Dan Quayle.

Clinton began the day with running mate Al Gore in New York, where they appeared on a two-hour edition of CBS “This Morning.” They fielded questions from audiences in the Manhattan studio as well as calls from Los Angeles, Denver, Portland, Ore., Houston, Cincinnati and Jacksonville, Fla.

During the program, the two men continued to exhibit an easy relationship, with one chiming in freely after the other had finished answering a question.

At several points, Gore expanded on a Clinton response.

For instance, when asked to detail his experiences that would bear on his ability to handle international crises, including sending U.S. troops into combat, Clinton spoke of his actions as Arkansas governor. He said he sent the state’s National Guard to train in Central America, had authorized force to quell a riot of Cuban refugees in 1980, and had used the Guard to remove extremists from armed camps in Arkansas.

“I didn’t have any problem doing that,” he said. And when called upon to make military decisions as President, he said: “I’ll make the best judgment I can based on the expert advice I get from military leaders and based on what needs to be the right thing to do for the American people at the time.”

Gore then noted that numerous governors with little or no foreign policy experience have gone on to become effective commanders-in-chief, including Ronald Reagan.

When a woman questioned Clinton about his commitment to civil rights, it was Gore who reminded the audience later that Clinton had once memorized Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Time staff writer Edwin Chen contributed to this story.