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Bill Clinton will play a prominent role campaigning for Democratic challenger John Kerry over the next three months, starting on Monday night with his speech at the opening of his party's convention.
By contrast with the 2000 election when the Gore team had mixed feelings about Mr Clinton's contribution and muted his role in the campaign, Mr Kerry and the 2004 Democratic leadership are working up a busy programme for the former president.
"He will have a vigourous campaign schedule in the fall," Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National Committee chairman, said on Sunday, suggesting Mr Clinton would be put to work touring the swing states in the weeks before the election. He declined to say whether Mr Clinton would be used in television advertising to mobilise Democratic voters.
Mr Kerry on Sunday continued on the campaign trail, pledging to bring new jobs to America's ailing industrial heartland during a rally in the key battleground state of Ohio. He was halfway through a cross-country journey that will take him to Boston, where he will claim the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday.
As Mr Kerry continued to pitch himself as a candidate better able to secure America against terrorist attacks than President George W. Bush, he also sought to convince voters that he is concerned with kitchen-table issues. Travelling to what he called "the jobs heartland", he touted a slate of tax incentives and healthcare proposals that he said would help lift working Americans out of poverty and boost business growth.
The role of the Clintons in 2004 has been the subject of speculation. Hillary Clinton was omitted from the initial roster of headline speakers, but later included on the prime-time list.
Democrats have, privately, expressed concern that Mr Clinton could overshadow the 2004 challenger and that the release of Mr Clinton's memoir, My Life, and the global book tour could sap public attention from Mr Kerry.
Mr Clinton told the BBC earlier this month: "When I finish the book tour, I'm going to do what I can for Senator Kerry...But I'll do whatever he wants, if he wants me to stay home and play golf, I'll do that too."
Mr McAuliffe, who was speaking at a lunch hosted by the Christian Science Monitor in Boston on the eve of the party's four day national convention, said Mr Clinton's role was evidence of the unity of the Democratic party in 2004.
After he secured the party's nomination in mid-March, Mr Kerry and Mr McAuliffe had a meeting, the Democratic party chairman recalled: "'Get as many people out there. Get Bill Clinton. Get Al Gore...It's all hands on deck,'" Mr McAuliffe paraphrased Mr Kerry as saying.
The prominent role assigned to Mr Clinton also reflects the Democratic party's need to mobilise its base of core supporters if Mr Kerry is to have a chance of winning in this stubbornly close election race.
Mr Gore's eagerness to emerge from under Mr Clinton's shadow - together with the Lewinsky scandal which was still fresh in the public mind at the last election - also explained the decision to limit the appearances of arguably the Democratic party's most rousing orator and talented politician in 2000.
Mr Clinton's darling status among core Democratic voters was on display on the streets of Boston yesterday, as hundreds of people queued up to have the former president sign a copy of his book.
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentS...y&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373964254&p=1012571727088
Bill Clinton will play a prominent role campaigning for Democratic challenger John Kerry over the next three months, starting on Monday night with his speech at the opening of his party's convention.
By contrast with the 2000 election when the Gore team had mixed feelings about Mr Clinton's contribution and muted his role in the campaign, Mr Kerry and the 2004 Democratic leadership are working up a busy programme for the former president.
"He will have a vigourous campaign schedule in the fall," Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National Committee chairman, said on Sunday, suggesting Mr Clinton would be put to work touring the swing states in the weeks before the election. He declined to say whether Mr Clinton would be used in television advertising to mobilise Democratic voters.
Mr Kerry on Sunday continued on the campaign trail, pledging to bring new jobs to America's ailing industrial heartland during a rally in the key battleground state of Ohio. He was halfway through a cross-country journey that will take him to Boston, where he will claim the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday.
As Mr Kerry continued to pitch himself as a candidate better able to secure America against terrorist attacks than President George W. Bush, he also sought to convince voters that he is concerned with kitchen-table issues. Travelling to what he called "the jobs heartland", he touted a slate of tax incentives and healthcare proposals that he said would help lift working Americans out of poverty and boost business growth.
The role of the Clintons in 2004 has been the subject of speculation. Hillary Clinton was omitted from the initial roster of headline speakers, but later included on the prime-time list.
Democrats have, privately, expressed concern that Mr Clinton could overshadow the 2004 challenger and that the release of Mr Clinton's memoir, My Life, and the global book tour could sap public attention from Mr Kerry.
Mr Clinton told the BBC earlier this month: "When I finish the book tour, I'm going to do what I can for Senator Kerry...But I'll do whatever he wants, if he wants me to stay home and play golf, I'll do that too."
Mr McAuliffe, who was speaking at a lunch hosted by the Christian Science Monitor in Boston on the eve of the party's four day national convention, said Mr Clinton's role was evidence of the unity of the Democratic party in 2004.
After he secured the party's nomination in mid-March, Mr Kerry and Mr McAuliffe had a meeting, the Democratic party chairman recalled: "'Get as many people out there. Get Bill Clinton. Get Al Gore...It's all hands on deck,'" Mr McAuliffe paraphrased Mr Kerry as saying.
The prominent role assigned to Mr Clinton also reflects the Democratic party's need to mobilise its base of core supporters if Mr Kerry is to have a chance of winning in this stubbornly close election race.
Mr Gore's eagerness to emerge from under Mr Clinton's shadow - together with the Lewinsky scandal which was still fresh in the public mind at the last election - also explained the decision to limit the appearances of arguably the Democratic party's most rousing orator and talented politician in 2000.
Mr Clinton's darling status among core Democratic voters was on display on the streets of Boston yesterday, as hundreds of people queued up to have the former president sign a copy of his book.
