LITTLE ROCK — As former president Bill Clinton releases his memoir about his long political career, there are high expectations in his home state about his role in the current campaign.
In stark contrast to four years ago, when then-Democratic nominee Al Gore kept Clinton at a distance, Democrats plan to make the former president an integral part of this year's campaign. While the former president's book tour will keep him occupied much of the summer, aides are already trying to work political appearances around his domestic travels.
Clinton has campaigned for a number of congressional and gubernatorial candidates since leaving office. The difference this year: Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry wants his assistance.
That is especially true here, the state where Clinton was born and where he served 12 years as governor. Arkansas is one of at least 17 states that both sides see as close. President Bush won Arkansas in 2000 by five percentage points. Many political observers here think the only way Kerry can beat Bush in Arkansas is to recruit Clinton as his surrogate-in-chief.
"It comes down to Clinton," says John Brummett, a longtime Arkansas political columnist. "If Kerry is left to his own devices in Arkansas, he will lose."
Clinton no longer lives in Arkansas; he switched his voting residence to New York when his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, decided to run for Senate there. But his presence still looms large.
His presidential library, due to open in Little Rock on Nov. 18, is one of the largest private-sector construction projects in the city's history. It has employed 1,500 and fueled a downtown renaissance.
The state's Republican governor, Mike Huckabee, is grateful for the library. But while Huckabee insists that Clinton is not as popular with voters as he used to be ("There's still some heartburn about the move to New York," the governor says), Clinton still has loyal fans among Arkansas Democrats.
Mayor Larry Hall of Bay says that while he and many of his constituents are dismayed about Clinton's "immoral relations with a lady at the White House," he still admires the former president's record. "He could run again and I'd vote for him," says Hall, an independent.
Republicans acknowledge that Clinton is a plus for Democrats here. "If he gets out and really campaigns for Kerry, it could make a big difference. In my opinion, it would be the difference," says Bill Vickery, a Little Rock-based GOP consultant.
Recent polls in the state have shown Bush and Kerry in a tight race. Local politicians say Bush has been hurt by problems in Iraq; 11 Arkansas soldiers have died there since the war began. Many mayors from across the state, in Little Rock last week for an Arkansas Municipal League conference, say that their communities are split 50-50.
"It's going to be a dogfight," says Mayor Robert Patrick, an independent from St. Charles.
In the 11 presidential elections since 1960, Arkansas has voted Republican five times; Democrat five times. In 1968, the state supported Alabama Gov. George Wallace, running as an independent.
Regional differences could put Kerry at a disadvantage in this non-Yankee state. Republicans are eagerly trying to exploit them.
"An elitist New England senator," is how Huckabee, Bush's Arkansas campaign chairman, describes him. The governor says Kerry's views on gun control, abortion and gay civil unions are too liberal for Arkansas.
Democratic Party leaders insist Arkansans aren't focused on geography. "Sen. Kerry has a great opportunity in Arkansas," says Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.
But some of Kerry's supporters here admit they are less than enthused. "I'll hold my nose and vote Democrat," Mayor James Wallace of England, Ark.
Traditionally, there are two ways Democrats win in Arkansas:
• Two years ago, Democratic Mark Pryor knocked off Republican Sen. Tim Hutchinson with a campaign that featured TV ads of the Pryor family in prayer around the kitchen table and camouflage bumper stickers — which Pryor sent every hunting and fishing license holder in the state.
So far, Kerry is having a hard time reproducing the effort. His comments about his hunting prowess on a recent visit to the state backfired. Kerry's mentioned he shot woodchucks — a varmint many hunters here wouldn't deign to aim at. That provoked a string of derisive messages on Woopig.net, a Web site for fans of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks.
• Blacks make up about 16% of the population. Because they traditionally vote Democratic, getting them to the polls can make a difference in elections here. This is where Clinton could be invaluable to Kerry. The former president is enormously popular with African Americans. Two years ago he became the first white inducted into the Black Arkansans Hall of Fame.
Republicans scoff that Clinton will overshadow Kerry, but the candidate has no such qualms. On a visit here last month, Kerry invoked Clinton's name 11 times — a fact his staff went out of the way to point out to reporters.
There are some here who wonder just how hard Clinton will be willing to campaign for Kerry. A victory for the Democratic nominee could foreclose a 2008 presidential run for the former president's wife, so Clinton might have mixed feelings, the theory goes.
But longtime Clinton aide Carol Willis, who is back in Little Rock as a political consultant, says any one who speculates along those lines doesn't know his former boss. "Bill Clinton doesn't do anything halfway," Willis says. "He likes to win more than anything."
USA Today
In stark contrast to four years ago, when then-Democratic nominee Al Gore kept Clinton at a distance, Democrats plan to make the former president an integral part of this year's campaign. While the former president's book tour will keep him occupied much of the summer, aides are already trying to work political appearances around his domestic travels.
Clinton has campaigned for a number of congressional and gubernatorial candidates since leaving office. The difference this year: Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry wants his assistance.
That is especially true here, the state where Clinton was born and where he served 12 years as governor. Arkansas is one of at least 17 states that both sides see as close. President Bush won Arkansas in 2000 by five percentage points. Many political observers here think the only way Kerry can beat Bush in Arkansas is to recruit Clinton as his surrogate-in-chief.
"It comes down to Clinton," says John Brummett, a longtime Arkansas political columnist. "If Kerry is left to his own devices in Arkansas, he will lose."
Clinton no longer lives in Arkansas; he switched his voting residence to New York when his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, decided to run for Senate there. But his presence still looms large.
His presidential library, due to open in Little Rock on Nov. 18, is one of the largest private-sector construction projects in the city's history. It has employed 1,500 and fueled a downtown renaissance.
The state's Republican governor, Mike Huckabee, is grateful for the library. But while Huckabee insists that Clinton is not as popular with voters as he used to be ("There's still some heartburn about the move to New York," the governor says), Clinton still has loyal fans among Arkansas Democrats.
Mayor Larry Hall of Bay says that while he and many of his constituents are dismayed about Clinton's "immoral relations with a lady at the White House," he still admires the former president's record. "He could run again and I'd vote for him," says Hall, an independent.
Republicans acknowledge that Clinton is a plus for Democrats here. "If he gets out and really campaigns for Kerry, it could make a big difference. In my opinion, it would be the difference," says Bill Vickery, a Little Rock-based GOP consultant.
Recent polls in the state have shown Bush and Kerry in a tight race. Local politicians say Bush has been hurt by problems in Iraq; 11 Arkansas soldiers have died there since the war began. Many mayors from across the state, in Little Rock last week for an Arkansas Municipal League conference, say that their communities are split 50-50.
"It's going to be a dogfight," says Mayor Robert Patrick, an independent from St. Charles.
In the 11 presidential elections since 1960, Arkansas has voted Republican five times; Democrat five times. In 1968, the state supported Alabama Gov. George Wallace, running as an independent.
Regional differences could put Kerry at a disadvantage in this non-Yankee state. Republicans are eagerly trying to exploit them.
"An elitist New England senator," is how Huckabee, Bush's Arkansas campaign chairman, describes him. The governor says Kerry's views on gun control, abortion and gay civil unions are too liberal for Arkansas.
Democratic Party leaders insist Arkansans aren't focused on geography. "Sen. Kerry has a great opportunity in Arkansas," says Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.
But some of Kerry's supporters here admit they are less than enthused. "I'll hold my nose and vote Democrat," Mayor James Wallace of England, Ark.
Traditionally, there are two ways Democrats win in Arkansas:
• Two years ago, Democratic Mark Pryor knocked off Republican Sen. Tim Hutchinson with a campaign that featured TV ads of the Pryor family in prayer around the kitchen table and camouflage bumper stickers — which Pryor sent every hunting and fishing license holder in the state.
So far, Kerry is having a hard time reproducing the effort. His comments about his hunting prowess on a recent visit to the state backfired. Kerry's mentioned he shot woodchucks — a varmint many hunters here wouldn't deign to aim at. That provoked a string of derisive messages on Woopig.net, a Web site for fans of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks.
• Blacks make up about 16% of the population. Because they traditionally vote Democratic, getting them to the polls can make a difference in elections here. This is where Clinton could be invaluable to Kerry. The former president is enormously popular with African Americans. Two years ago he became the first white inducted into the Black Arkansans Hall of Fame.
Republicans scoff that Clinton will overshadow Kerry, but the candidate has no such qualms. On a visit here last month, Kerry invoked Clinton's name 11 times — a fact his staff went out of the way to point out to reporters.
There are some here who wonder just how hard Clinton will be willing to campaign for Kerry. A victory for the Democratic nominee could foreclose a 2008 presidential run for the former president's wife, so Clinton might have mixed feelings, the theory goes.
But longtime Clinton aide Carol Willis, who is back in Little Rock as a political consultant, says any one who speculates along those lines doesn't know his former boss. "Bill Clinton doesn't do anything halfway," Willis says. "He likes to win more than anything."
USA Today
