Candidates Stump In Calif. After Debate

SAN DIEGO (AllPolitics, Oct. 17) -- After a debate viewed as a victory for President Bill Clinton, GOP challenger Bob Dole looked for support in his long-shot bid for California's 54-vote electoral prize.

"We think the issues are out here for us to win," Dole campaign manager Scott Reed told The Associated Press. "We think the ground game is out here for us to win."

Dole planned to campaign in Riverside and Glendale, both in southern California and traditionally GOP strongholds. The president was scheduled to attend rallies in Tustin and Santa Ana in Orange County, another Republican bastion.

During Wednesday night's debate, Dole stressed themes that play well in California, putting in a plug for the California Civil Rights Initiative which would end affirmative action policies.

Though opinion polls still show Clinton leading in the Golden State points, Dole's running mate Jack Kemp told ABC-TV this morning that putting California in the Republican column "is highly doable."

Both sides were still spinning the debate, though polls conducted immediately afterward gave Clinton the edge. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey showed 59 percent of those polled though Clinton did a better job, to Dole's 29 percent.

Contended Dole advisor Donald Rumsfeld, "Bob Dole had a chance to explain his economic program exceedingly well... I was surprised a little bit that Bill Clinton left all of these things there to be considered for the American people. So it was a good victory for Bob Dole."

But Clinton-Gore official Joe Lockhart countered that "the president was committed to answering the questions that came from the people...We found out last night what they're interested in, things we've been talking about: education, welfare, health care. You know, people aren't interested in this sort of partisan bickering the Republicans have been generating in Washington for the past year."

In the CNN poll, Clinton was also seen by voters as taking more unfair criticism, holding a better vision for the future, and understanding better the problems mentioned by the audience. Dole edged slightly ahead in the honesty category, 44-40 percent.

"President Clinton did a much better job than Senator Dole," one 37-year-old female audience member told AP after the debate. "Dole was nervous, and he was inarticulate."

But another woman in the audience said, "Now I know I'm going to vote for Dole."

Candidates Stump In Calif. After Debate

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