Bush Only Appealing to Worst in Us, Clinton Says

Nervous about maintaining advantage as Election Day nears, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton opened a new assault on President Bush on Wednesday by contending that Bush is not worthy of America’s trust and should be run out of office because “all he does is appeal to the worst in us.”

As part of his newly sharpened attack, Clinton edged close to siding with independent candidate Ross Perot in his feud with Bush and said he would welcome Perot’s “involvement” in his Administration, without specifying what he meant.

But the Democratic presidential nominee came under renewed criticism of his own trustworthiness at the hands of callers to the “Today” show, on which Clinton was a guest.

Several pressed Clinton about his lack of service in Vietnam and another resurrected unproven allegations of an affair. Clinton responded to the questions by flaying at Bush and defending himself, a strategy he followed all day.

In Jackson, Miss., where Clinton spoke in the shadow of the old Capitol, the Democrat put his argument against Bush bluntly.

“When you get right down to it, Mr. Bush has run out of energy and ideas and vision,” Clinton said. “He ought to be run out of Washington because all he does is appeal to the worst in us.”

Hours later in Louisville, Clinton issued a litany of criticisms about Bush and shouted his disapproval before several thousand rapturous supporters.

“The very idea that the word trust could ever come out of Bush’s mouth after what he has done to this country and the way he has trampled the truth is a travesty,” Clinton said.

Throughout the day Wednesday, as he traveled from Texas to Mississippi and into Kentucky, Clinton upbraided Bush for what he described as a pattern of untruths.

Clinton and his campaign staff have been angered by Bush advertising in many parts of the country that they say distorts his record and his proposals. In Texas, he was irritated by Bush ads that argued that Clinton would damage the oil and gas industry; in Mississippi, he said the President was fanning unsubstantiated fears that Clinton would close military bases.

“There’s just no such thing as truth when it comes to him; he just says whatever sounds good and worries about it after the election,” Clinton said angrily in Houston.

The assault, which followed several days of predominantly high-road behavior, underscored the release of public opinion polls showing that the gap between Clinton and Bush was narrowing.

The candidate, still confident of victory, predicted that the polls would be moving “like an accordion” from now until the election.

Clinton’s thrust Wednesday was leveled on the two issues on which Bush has staked his bid for reelection--trust and taxes.

“Mr. Bush says that this election is about trust and taxes in Arkansas,” he said in Jackson, adding a derisive, “Huh.”

“My state has the highest job growth rate in the country, the second-lowest taxes in the country, the lowest spending in the country.

“He’s raised taxes on the middle class after promising not to, doubled the debt, and people’s incomes are going down while they’re working harder.”

“We know what he did on taxes--he said, ‘Read my lips’ and then stuck it to the middle class.”

In attacking Bush’s trustworthiness, Clinton used as his main exhibit a New Yorker magazine article that quotes former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev as saying that he had been told by Bush “not to pay any attention” to what Bush said in the campaign.

The President’s words, which the White House acknowledged were accurate, were meant to assuage any hurt feelings over Bush’s campaign contention that he presided over the decline of the Soviet Union.

“So he’s telling foreign leaders the truth and he won’t tell you the truth,” Clinton said. “If Gorbachev shouldn’t pay any attention to him, you sure shouldn’t pay any attention to him in this election.”

At each of his appearances Wednesday, Clinton cited not only the New Yorker piece, but also several other newspaper editorials critical of Bush. In Houston, where he appeared at a morning rally, Clinton went so far as to don reading glasses in a move an aide acknowledged was meant to reinforce that he was reading someone else’s words.

On the “Today” broadcast, Clinton hinted that he believed that Bush could have been behind what Perot has described as summertime efforts to embarrass Perot’s youngest daughter. Perot contended Sunday that he dropped out of the race last July to spare his daughter.

Acknowledging that Perot’s absence of proof had “called his temperament into question,” Clinton said, “ . . . but let me say, don’t forget that Mr. Bush said himself he would do anything to get reelected.”

” . . . The Bush campaign has been the most reckless campaign with the truth of any campaign that I’ve seen in modern American history. And they are plainly so desperate to hold onto power that they’re prepared to say just about anything.”

Clinton later said he would welcome Perot’s involvement in his Administration but did not suggest any specific role.

“I expect to have Republicans and independents in my Administration, along with Democrats,” he said. “I want to have his involvement in some fashion.”

While “Today” did enable Clinton to launch his assault on Bush, it also proved the ultimate truth about live television: Anything can happen.

Clinton was barely into his appearance when callers began firing questions at him about his lack of service in Vietnam and a tape recording between him and Gennifer Flowers, who earlier this year claimed that she had had a longstanding romance with the governor. Clinton has denied her story.

The draft record was questioned by two callers, including one woman who called herself “Sue” and said her first child had been born while her husband was serving in Vietnam against his will.

“I want to know how you can justify asking me or anybody else to vote for you, because when the time (came) that our country needed someone to support it, it was easier for you not to support it,” she said.

Clinton told her that he did not want to fight in a war he opposed. But, he said, “I did not dodge the draft in the sense of violating the law.”

The governor recounted his draft history--which included entering an ROTC program to avoid the draft, a program he later quit. Clinton ultimately received a high number in the first draft lottery, in 1969, and was never called into the service.

The woman also questioned Clinton’s involvement in anti-war demonstrations in London.

“I demonstrated because I didn’t agree with the policy and because I was trying to keep people like your husband alive because I thought that the war was wrong,” Clinton said.

The Flowers reference came from another caller and prompted a heated response from Clinton.

“I have been in public life a long time and until this campaign no one had ever questioned my truthfulness, my honor or my integrity,” he said. “It’s been subject to a withering attack by the Bush campaign.”