Bill Clinton, once known on the campaign trail as Elvis for his superstar, crowd-pleasing charms, will rise from his sickbed next week to come to John Kerry's aid, six weeks after a quadruple bypass operation.
Clinton's last-ditch intervention, starting on Monday in Philadelphia in a joint appearance with Kerry, comes in the face of resistance from his wife. Senator Hillary Clinton is concerned that the former president could endanger his health so soon after the operation.
"Hillary has been fighting this all along, but we'll get a few appearances," said a senior Democratic official who was involved in the negotiations over Clinton's participation. "He really wants to do this. He watches every detail of the race. He knows more about it than I do."
The charisma of the 58-year-old former president has made him a figure of adulation among the Democratic faithful, but his participation may be a double-edged sword.
He also galvanizes Conservatives, who hold him in contempt for the Monica Lewinsky scandal. For that reason, Al Gore did not call on his help four years ago -- a decision much criticized by Democratic activists.
A Kerry spokesman, Joe Lockhart, said Clinton, who has been convalescing at his home in Chappaqua, New York, will make several solo campaign stops in the course of next week, after his joint appearance with Kerry. Clinton's office in Harlem Wednesday issued a short statement saying he was "pleased to be able to help John Kerry in this very important campaign for the future of our country."
Clinton has also agreed to tape a message to be sent out to voters' home telephones, and he may also record a radio advertisement.
At a Tuesday night campaign event, Kerry said he had spoken by telephone to Clinton, who had encouraged him, arguing that White House "scare tactics" would backfire.
The White House is countering Clinton's imminent return by taking the unusual step of sending the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, out on the campaign trail.
It is an unprecedented step, since national security advisers do not normally take part in campaign politics, but the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, yesterday defended the decision, saying Rice had been invited to speak at a number of venues and had agreed to attend.
Clinton's reappearance on the political scene comes at a time when Kerry is running neck-and-neck with the president in some polls and trailing in others.
A tracking poll by the Washington Post and ABC television put George Bush five percentage points ahead, but it offered a spark of hope to Kerry. He is winning by 54 percent to 43 percent among first-time voters, which suggests that a high turnout on Nov. 2 will be in his favor.
The two rivals pressed on with their high-mileage campaigning yesterday, sniping at each other as they criss-crossed the midwest in search of crucial swing votes.
"This president likes to say he's a leader," Kerry told a rally in Iowa. "Mr President, look behind you. There's no one there. It's not leadership if no one follows."
Bush hit back by saying that his challenger was guilty of a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the so-called war on terror.
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