No Letup in Pace of White House Race

On a frenetic, election-eve odyssey that featured a blend of personal nostalgia and political calculation, President Clinton scrambled from New Hampshire to his home state of Arkansas on Monday, squeezing in stops in four other states as he called on Americans to give him four more years in office.

“A couple of weeks ago we were trying to plan how we would end this campaign--I hope I can say this without cracking up,” Clinton said, seemingly on the verge of tears at an early rally outside the Merrimack Restaurant in downtown Manchester. “And I said I would like to begin the last day of my last campaign in New Hampshire,” a reference to the special place the state has held for him since the 1992 primary.

But the climactic and emotional preelection itinerary, capping the final campaign for a man who has spent virtually his entire adult life running for office, also had a clear-cut political rationale.

Aiming for 50% of the Vote

Clinton wants to aid Democratic candidates in close races, including a hard-fought Senate contest in New Hampshire. He also has a goal of capturing more than 50% of the popular vote for president, his aides acknowledge, a level he failed to reach four years ago (in a three-way race, he won the White House with 43% of the vote). But today 50% appears within his reach, based on recent polls.

With Democrats hoping to regain Congress, Clinton’s New Hampshire appearance was partially aimed at boosting the party’s prospects in one of the handful of Senate races in which a GOP incumbent appears vulnerable. Democrat Dick Swett, a former House member, is running neck-and-neck with Sen. Robert C. Smith (R-N.H.).

Still, the president’s Manchester rally largely reflected his personal agenda.

“How’s it going, buddy? Good to see you,” Clinton said to Michael Morrison, a 20-year-old suffering from cerebral palsy with whom Clinton struck up a friendship during the ’92 primary season. Although buffeted during that campaign by questions about his extramarital activities and his draft status during the Vietnam War, Clinton’s second-place finish in the primary helped him go on to capture his party’s presidential nomination.

“How’s it going, John, old friend?” he said to another man at the Merrimack Restaurant, where Clinton frequently dined four years ago.

“Do you remember me?” one woman asked. “I do, I do,” the president responded.

‘Dog’ Still Kicking

As if contemplating the path of his political career, Clinton reminded his audience that as he struggled during the ’92 primary campaign to keep his candidacy afloat, he had told Granite State voters, “If you would give me a chance to be president, I would be with you until the last dog dies.

“Well, folks,” Clinton told the laughing crowd of supporters who stood outdoors on the chilly, clear morning, “there’s a lot of life left in this old dog.”

He urged his crowd to help him pursue some of the policy initiatives of his first term. “Are we going to finish the job of balancing the budget while investing in our children and protecting Medicare, Medicaid, education and the environment?” Clinton asked. “Your vote will decide.”

At Clinton’s other scheduled stops during the day--in Cleveland; Lexington, Ky.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Sioux Falls, S.D.--political considerations were uppermost.

Polls have shown Clinton’s lead shrinking to single digits in Ohio--a state the president noted Monday is generally a bellwether for the nation. In Kentucky, meanwhile, the presidential contest is rated a tossup.

In Iowa, where he and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke on a cold rainy night in Cedar Rapids, Clinton sought to aid Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, who had been a strong favorite for reelection, but whose race has tightened of late. Later, in South Dakota, the president hoped to give a final push to Democratic Rep. Tim Johnson, who polls have shown is favored to unseat Republican Sen. Larry Pressler.

At his Cleveland stop, the Clintons were joined by Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper.

A raspy-voiced Gore delivered a vigorous speech that fired up the crowd. “The great state of Ohio will put the Clinton-Gore team over the top!” he shouted.

Clinton, who is far more noted for energetic stump appearances than his running mate, was impressed.

“Wow!” Clinton told the audience of 10,000 at Cleveland State University. “I don’t know what the vice president ate for breakfast this morning, but if he’d had two more bites of it he would have blown the roof clear off this [auditorium].”

As he has throughout the last week, Clinton sought to guard against complacency among his supporters, stressing the responsibility they have to vote today.

In keeping with the more critical tone he has taken toward Republicans in the closing days of the campaign, he methodically accused the GOP of undermining schools, law enforcement, the environment, health care and family values.

‘Seize the Day’

“They say, ‘You’re on your own,’ he said. “We say, ‘Let’s build a bridge to the 21st century.’ ”

He repeatedly called on his listeners to “seize the day” and embrace his agenda. “You must seize the day to say this is our country, this is our future and we’re going to build it together,” he said.

Later, in Lexington, Clinton told his audience that he had “come to the end of more than 20 years of endeavor” in politics. In that time, he said, he had concluded that he and many Republicans “just have honest differences of opinion . . . you are now the judges in that court of public opinion. These differences are being brought to you.”