Rally Turns Into Love Feast for Clinton : Reform: President gets a lift at rousing reception in Minneapolis, a Democratic stronghold. He gives spirited rendition of his health care stump speech.

Having lived through several tough weeks in Washington and some testy encounters with members of the public in televised town meetings, President Clinton appeared to revive his spirits Friday at an enthusiastic rally in one of his party’s most reliable strongholds.

Standing before a crowd of several thousand cheering supporters at a health care rally here, Clinton beamed at the welcome sound of applause and, after a spirited rendition of his stump speech, lingered for more than half an hour shaking hands, waving and basking in the crowd’s support.

Minnesota in general--and Minneapolis in particular--has a long tradition of liberal activism. The state was one of Clinton’s strongest in the 1992 election and that support was on clear display as he moved around the Twin Cities Friday.

As is generally the case, some demonstrators greeted Clinton’s arrival but they were primarily protesters from the left--one group, for example, that stood outside his hotel when he arrived late Thursday night demanding U.S. action on behalf of human rights in Tibet. By contrast, when Clinton visited Topeka, Kan., Thursday, he was picketed by an anti-gay-rights group bearing large placards denouncing him as the “Whitewater President.”

Clinton clearly warmed to the supportive audience and pulled out all the rhetorical stops in advocating his plan as he spoke to the crowd, which was organized by the Minnesota Nurse’s Assn. Here, as elsewhere, nurses’ organizations have been among Clinton’s most supportive groups, in part because his plan would eliminate rules in many states, backed by doctors, that sharply limit the types of medical care nurses can provide.

“This is an opportunity for us to come together across regional and racial and income and party lines to do something that is good for America. All of our jobs are at stake, all of our health care is at stake, our children are at stake, our parents are at stake,” the President said.

“In Washington this may look like a partisan issue, but out here on Main Street, it isn’t,” Clinton said. “Democrats and Republicans and Independents all get sick. They all lose their jobs. They all lose their health insurance.”

Clinton’s visit had a political purpose more pressing than simple enjoyment, of course. White House officials hope that the show of support for health reform here will help bolster their position with the state’s Republican senator, Dave Durenberger, a moderate who is one of the strategically crucial handful of Republicans who have been willing to consider Clinton’s proposals.

The President’s travels recently have been carefully targeted at key members of Congress--Kansas Democratic Rep. Jim Slattery and GOP Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum on Thursday--Durenberger and a handful of House members from the northern Midwest Friday.

But although White House officials had hoped that Durenberger would show up for the rally and share the podium with Clinton, he stayed away--a symbol, perhaps, of the frustrations Clinton has encountered in trying to entice GOP moderates into a health care deal.

By contrast, Clinton received a loud endorsement from the state’s other senator, liberal Democrat Paul Wellstone. Wellstone is a leading advocate of a proposal to create a government run “single-payer” health care plan similar to the one in Canada. Many single-payer supporters around the country consider Clinton’s effort too conservative because it would continue to rely on privately sold health insurance. But Wellstone, himself, left little doubt that, in the end, he will support Clinton’s plan in Congress.

“We have the opportunity of a generation,” Wellstone declared to the rally here as he introduced Clinton. “Whether it be single payer or all payer or what, we agree on one thing--universal coverage with comprehensive benefits.”