Big Sister Hillary Helps Brother’s Campaign for Senate

Hugh Rodham got some campaign help Saturday from big sister Hillary Rodham Clinton and introduced her as “the main dish” to Democrats whose votes he needs to win a tough U.S. Senate primary runoff.

The First Lady, campaigning for her brother for the first time, urged voters at three rallies to help elect another pro-President Clinton senator.

“I want you to know what the President has accomplished and why it is so important we have senators like my brother . . . who will continue to support the direction my husband is moving the country in,” she told about 300 people at the Sunset Lakes retirement community in Broward County.

Mrs. Clinton said the Clinton Administration has strengthened the economy and lowered the deficit, and she touted the passage of the crime and family leave bills. She also promised not to give up the fight on national health care.

The First Lady, 46, said she felt the pride of a big sister helping her 44-year-old brother, who is only “little by age.” At a stop at a community center in Hollywood, Rodham joked about the clout his sister brings.

“You heard from the appetizer, you’re about to hear from the main dish,” he said.

At one point Rodham said, “Today is the crowning achievement in my life.”

Rodham, a former Penn State football player, is a political novice and former Dade County public defender. He faces former radio talk show host Mike Wiley in the runoff on Tuesday. Wiley opposes gun control and foreign aid and has a firm belief in UFOs.

Rodham was first and Wiley second in the four-way primary Sept. 8, in which nobody won a required majority to avoid a runoff.

The winner will face first-term Republican Sen. Connie Mack, who was unopposed in the primary. Mack is the grandson and namesake of the former Philadelphia Athletics owner and manager.

Rodham’s campaign gained momentum through the summer, garnering endorsements from unions, state associations and newspapers, but he still has no TV advertising. His brother Tony Rodham, who worked for the Democratic National Committee, signed on as campaign manager in August.

Wiley, heavily supported by the National Rifle Assn., won more than half the state’s counties, most of them small conservative counties in north Florida. He says much of his vote is a rejection of the Clinton Administration.