Clinton Might Be Able to Campaign for Kerry Soon

Sen. John F. Kerry suggested Tuesday that former President Clinton may hit the campaign trail on his behalf in the final week of the race, a move that would mark Clinton’s first public appearance since his heart bypass in early September.

During an interview with a Lancaster, Pa., NBC affiliate, the Democratic candidate said that “it’s possible that former President Clinton may be here, working” in the campaign’s final days.

Stephanie Cutter, Kerry’s communications director, said that Clinton had not finalized any plans.

“We are eager to have his help, and it has to be done in a way that protects his health,” she said.

Clinton’s quadruple heart bypass sidelined one of the Democratic Party’s most popular figures. The former president’s campaign activities have been limited to recording telephone messages encouraging people to vote for the Massachusetts senator.

Kerry aides said privately that they hoped Clinton would commit to traveling to several states next week on the candidate’s behalf.

Clinton has not been out on the trail for Kerry this fall, but he has had a strong influence on the campaign. At the end of the summer, Kerry tapped several former Clinton aides to help revamp the campaign’s message. And Kerry frequently speaks by phone with the former president.

At a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday night, the senator said he had been talking with Clinton right before he came out on stage about how President Bush was trying to use fear to sway public opinion.

“He said, ‘You know, when the other guy wants you to stop thinking and is trying to scare you into not thinking, and you want Americans to think about their future, it’s pretty clear who you ought to be voting for,’ ” Kerry told thousands of people who filled a local baseball stadium.