Clinton Avoids Direct Hits on His GOP Rivals

President Clinton, determined not to mention his Republican challengers even indirectly, rallied thousands of Democratic faithful here Saturday by identifying his opponents this year as the “cynicism, negativism, apathy and division” that infest American politics today.

Speaking to a large, all-but-frostbitten crowd in Keene’s quaint town square, Clinton made no mention of the cannibalistic GOP primary battle being fought in the luncheonettes and on the airwaves of New Hampshire.

His only allusion to the bitter GOP primary on Tuesday was a joke referring to the fact that the fantasy film “Jumanji” was partially filmed in Keene, including a scene in which elephants appear to stampede into the town center.

“I thought I’d better get up here before it was too late and we had another elephant stampede,” Clinton said, drawing laughter from a crowd estimated at 10,000.

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Clinton stood hatless and ungloved under blue skies as windblown snow swirled about. He spoke for about 20 minutes.

His daylong visit to New Hampshire was his second campaign trip to the Granite State this month. It was also the second consecutive weekend in which he sought to steal attention from the Republicans vying to replace him. He spent last Saturday and Sunday campaigning in Iowa on the eve of the caucuses there.

While in Keene, Clinton met with Frank McConnell, the New Hampshire resident who challenged Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich to clean up the nation’s campaign finance system at the two leaders’ town hall meeting in Claremont, N.H., last June.

He told McConnell that although a bill has passed that requires lobbyists to reveal their clients and income, the GOP-led Congress has failed to act on broader campaign-finance reform legislation.

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Clinton also picked up the endorsement of 40 New Hampshire Republicans who said he offered a more positive vision of the future than do any of the Republican candidates.

Susan McLane, a longtime GOP activist from Concord, said in a statement issued by the Clinton campaign that she is abandoning her party because “after 25 years, I don’t believe my values and hopes have changed, but the Republican Party has changed. Very much for the worse, I fear.”

Earlier, in Rochester, N.H., Clinton spoke to about 3,000 southeastern New Hampshire residents in a community center gymnasium. He told them that picking a president “is the most important hiring decision the American people make.”

He urged the crowds in Rochester and Keene to turn out forcefully in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in which he faces insignificant opposition, to demonstrate that they reject the tenor of the politics being fought out on the Republican side.

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“Cynicism is a very cheap excuse for inaction,” Clinton said. “There is an opponent in the primary: Cynicism is our opponent. Apathy is our opponent. Divisiveness is our opponent.”

As he did on his visit to New Hampshire two weeks ago, Clinton hewed to his low-key, high-tone reelection message.

He detailed what he considers the signal accomplishments of his tenure: a lower federal budget deficit, gun-control legislation, a bill providing job leaves for family crises and the creation of the AmeriCorps public-service program. He spoke of the more than 7 million jobs created since he took office, but he noted that many workers have not benefited from the economy’s growth.

He expressed concern over the “dislocation and uncertainty” that rapid changes in the structure of the economy have caused and said, “It is our common responsibility as Americans . . . that everybody have access to the American dream. That is our mission.”