Campaign Almanac
The candidates
Bob Dole, confident of hitting a “Golden State jackpot,” extended his homestretch tour of California on Sunday, chipping steadily at President Clinton’s integrity while calling for an end to affirmative action.
“In America, what counts is merit and character,” the GOP presidential 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 - wants four more years of this,” Dole said.
Bill Clinton, campaigning in Virginia, a state that hasn’t voted to put a Democrat in the White House since Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 landslide, urged Virginians to give up their Republican voting habit. “I know how hard it is to break a habit. But one of the things we all teach our kids is that some habits have to be broken,” he said.
The president began the day with a Rose Garden ceremony where he announced a $30 million spending increase for research into the genetic basis of breast cancer. He said it was a step “to bring us closer to a cure and to improve the lives of those who do survive.”
It was an event aimed at strengthening his support among women - and aggravating Dole’s gender-gap problem. Most polls show that women represent about 60 percent of Clinton’s support.
Ross Perot, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” vowed once more not to quit the presidential race. “I am urging them (the American people) to vote for us, not for anybody else,” the Reform Party candidate said.
Poll
A slim majority of Americans believe the country is better off when one party controls both the White House and Capitol Hill, but independents pivotal in this year’s battle for Congress are more likely to favor divided government, according to an Associated Press poll.
The AP survey offered nuggets of hope for both major parties in the fight to control Congress as the campaign entered the final week.
By a 45 percent to 32 percent margin, respondents who said they are likely to vote Nov. 5 said they trust Democrats more than Republicans to lead the country for the next four years.
Democrats led 45 percent to 34 percent when respondents were asked which party they would support if elections for Congress were today. This finding was in conflict with other recent national polls that have found Democrats and Republicans running roughly even on this question.
The AP survey of 707 likely voters, conducted Oct. 18-22 by ICR of Media, Pa., suggested deep party loyalty among Democrats and Republicans when it comes to voting for Congress and picking which party they trust to lead the nation.
Endorsements
Clinton: The Seattle Times; The Denver Post; The Oregonian in Portland; the Hartford (Conn.) Courant; The New York Times; The Boston Globe; San Francisco Examiner; the Philadelphia Inquirer; The Des Moines (Iowa) Register; and Honolulu Advertiser.
Dole: The Detroit News; The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel;, The Kansas City Star;, the Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss.; The Hutchinson (Kan.) News; and the Idaho Statesman in Boise.
Today’s stops
Clinton: St. Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago, Columbus, Ohio.
Dole: California - San Diego, Carlsbad, Anaheim, Seal Beach, Long Beach.
Perot: Blacksburg, Va.
Gore: Spokane, Seattle, Eugene, Ore.
Kemp: Phoenix.