Clintons Do Blue-Ribbon Politicking at N.Y. Fair

With President Clinton helping to draw a crowd and daughter Chelsea eagerly pitching in, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday went on a press-the-flesh style campaign trip to the New York State Fair.

The first family waded through the crowd, cheerfully shaking hands with those who filled the grounds of the traditional picturesque fair, complete with livestock exhibits, a quilting display and a games arcade.

“It’s what I’ve done all my life. You know I like it,” said the president about the informal campaigning. “This is the way I think it should be done.”

Chelsea also appeared enthusiastic as she shook hands with the crowd, carrying a stuffed animal under her arm.

The first lady, who is considering a run for the U.S. Senate from New York, avoided questions on the subject. Pausing at a dairy bar to help serve cups of milk to reporters, she said, “I’m so happy to be here.”

Earlier in the day, speaking at a lunch hosted by New York State Comptroller H. Carl McCall, she told several hundred lawmakers and business people: “I am pleased that I might have a chance of continuing what New York has always represented.”

The president also spoke, renewing his call for using the federal budget surplus to shore up the Social Security system.

Clinton compared America’s good economic times to “farmers sitting on a good crop” and trying to decide how best to build on the bounty.

Mrs. Clinton added that she looks forward to meeting more residents during the five days that she, the president and Chelsea will spend in the tiny resort town of Skaneateles, in the Finger Lakes area.

The crowd waiting to watch the first family arrive in Air Force One was the largest in the state to see Mrs. Clinton since she announced a possible run for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

The crowd, which Secret Service personnel estimated at 2,500 people, burst into a loud cheer as the president, Mrs. Clinton, Chelsea and their dog, Buddy, emerged from the plane to begin the last leg of their annual summer vacation.