Dole Aims For A Win In California; Clinton Invades Hostile Territory

SACRAMENTO, California (AllPolitics, Oct. 27) -- Confident of hitting a "Golden State jackpot," Bob Dole extended his homestretch tour of California Sunday, while President Clinton visited Virginia and Tennessee, where he touted programs to move welfare recipients onto private payrolls.

Dole focused on criticizing President Clinton's integrity while calling for an end to affirmative action. "In America, what counts is merit and character," the GOP nominee declared.

Rallying a red-meat Republican crowd at an annual Steak and Oyster Feed outside Sacramento, Dole offered himself for "mature leadership" and suggested a second Clinton term would be cut short by an ethics blowup.

"It's the animal house, it's no longer the White House. ... I can't believe any thinking American -- except the real partisans -- want four more years of this," Dole said.

Despite his rejected plea for an endorsement from Ross Perot, Dole relied on the Texan to bolster his arguments about ethics in the White House.

"Ross Perot suggests, indirectly, it may not be four more years. Maybe it's going to be so serious next year, somebody might be in real trouble. I didn't say that, Ross Perot did -- but I thought about it," Dole said.

In a NBC television interview Sunday, Perot sharply criticized what he called the Clinton administration's ethical lapses, saying they could turn into "Watergate II" and divert attention from running the nation.

Dole's speeches Sunday were part of an all-out push in the final days of the campaign to win California. While blasting the president's ethics on the stump, his campaign deployed an anti-illegal immigration strategy over the airwaves, tapping an issue that helped Republican Governor Pete Wilson in his successful reelection bid in 1994.

"It increasingly looks like we do need California to win," said Ken Khachigian, Dole's top California strategist.

Clinton heads South again

Clinton brushed off the attacks and instead focused on his policies while swinging through territory that hasn't always been friendly to Democrats.

He crossed the Potomac from Washington into suburban Springfield, Virginia. With musician Bruce Hornsby warming up the crowd, Clinton angled for support in a state noted for backing GOP nominees.

"Most people in Virginia have been voting against members of my party for president for over three decades now, and I know how hard it is to break a habit," Clinton said, prompting laughter. "One of the things we all teach our kids is that some habit have to be broken."

Clinton went onto tout his efforts on behalf of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Violence Against Women Act and increased funding for breast cancer research.

Later in the day, Clinton went to Nashville, accompanied by Vice President Al Gore.

The Clinton campaign spotlighted Noah Liff, owner of an iron and metal company that has developed a training program for welfare recipients.

Liff introduced Gore and Clinton to an invitation-only crowd at Vanderbilt University Medical Center Sunday evening for a discussion of welfare and businesses that train and hire recipients.

The medical center is one of those businesses with its WorkStart program, which has given more than 80 welfare mothers job training since February. Twenty-eight of them have found jobs at Vanderbilt, for example, as billing clerks and patient-care technicians.

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