In Texas, Clinton Blasts 'Politics Of Division'

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AllPolitics, Nov. 2) -- President Bill Clinton stormed the Alamo today, rousing a crowd gathered in front of the historic fort with pleas to "build common ground."

This was the president's second visit to the Lone Star state in four weeks, where he's hoping to stage an against-the-odds win on Tuesday. Texas last voted for a Democratic presidential nominee in 1976, and while one poll in Texas shows Republican challenger Bob Dole ahead by five points, most pollsters are calling Texas a statistical dead heat.

In what he called "the last campaign of my entire life," Clinton said he wants people to stop pointing fingers, and start working together to build a better future for the country. He listed the accomplishments of his four years in the Oval Office as lowering the deficit, reforming the welfare system, and raising the minimum wage.

"I ask every person in Texas who believes we have the worst economy in 20 years to vote for Senator Dole," the president said. Earlier, in his weekly radio address, Clinton called on his opponents to stop the "politics of division."

"Unfortunately, here at the end of the election, some people have attempted to take advantage of these issues for political advantage," Clinton said.

While omitting specifics, Clinton seemed to be alluding to Dole's tougher stances regarding affirmative action and illegal immigration. While Clinton has spoken on the need to beef up border protection, he is not in favor of denying public education to the children of illegal aliens, as Dole is.

On affirmative action, Dole has called for an end to preferences, and recently highlighted his support for California's ballot initiative to ban affirmative action programs in California's public sector. Clinton's stance on affirmative action has been to "mend it, don't end it," and he has come out against the California initiative.

"I say to them, we've seen the results of this before," Clinton declared to his Texas audience. "The politics of division yields only division and gridlock, and the search for common ground yields solutions and progress."

Leading comfortably in most national polls, the president continued to ignore the continuing imbroglio over Democratic fund-raising. The party today acknowledged it had been lax in reviewing the source of many donations since 1994.

While the race showed some signs of tightening in the Mountain West and in several Southern states, the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup tracking poll had Clinton's support nationally at 50 percent, Dole at 37 percent, and Reform Party nominee Ross Perot at 7 percent. Clinton's schedule for Saturday also takes him to Little Rock, Ark., New Orleans, La., and finally to Tampa, Fla.