ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300055
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO POLITICS
DATELINE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
NOTE: Lede
Bill Clinton presented himself Thursday night as a visionary leader with a plan to steer America into the 21st century as he accepted the nomination of a jubilant and united Democratic Party for a second term as president.
Clinton portrayed himself as a bridge to the future, and by saluting Republican rival Bob Dole for his long service to the country - dating back 50 years to World War II - he also implicitly cast Dole as a man of the past.
``Tonight let us resolve to build that bridge to the 21st century, to meet our challenges, protect our basic values. Let us build a bridge to help our parents raise their children, to help young people get education and training they need, to make our streets safe,'' Clinton said.
``I want to build a bridge to the 21st century that ends the permanent underclass, that lifts up the poor and ends their isolation,'' he added.
The president did not match his lofty rhetoric about the new millennium with grand new appeals for action, however. Instead he stitched together a sampler of modest proposals - including small tax breaks and limited education incentives - and offered that as his program for the future.
``By the year 2000, the single most critical thing we can do is to give every single American who wants it the chance to go to college,'' Clinton proclaimed, citing his familiar proposals for new tax breaks and grants for education and job training.
The modesty of Clinton's proposals reflected the restraint he has shown toward government activism since his Democrats were trounced in the 1994 elections. Ever since, he has worked to harmonize his leadership with the public skepticism toward government that remains dominant in America.
Clinton's day was marred by the resignation of Dick Morris, his chief political strategist, after a published report that Morris had maintained a relationship with a $200-an-hour prostitute and had let her listen in while he talked to Clinton on the phone.
The news about Morris did not appear to dampen the mood of delegates on the convention floor. They sang ``Take Me Out To The Ballgame'' with Chicago Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray, danced to ``Born in the U.S.A.'' and the ubiquitous Clinton theme song ``Don't Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)'' and waved hundreds of Clinton-Gore signs.
Former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali stood applauding beside Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea.
``Thank you for your nomination,'' Clinton began. ``I don't know if I can find a fancy way to say this, but, I accept.'' He saluted Al Gore as ``the best vice president in history'' and Hillary Clinton as ``the light in my life.''
In the body of his address, Clinton proclaimed his goals for America.
He emphasized his commitment to balancing the budget, stressed his determination to prevent the Republican Congress from shutting down the government again, and warned America's children of the dangers of drugs. He also stressed his commitment to protect the environment and to fight terrorism.
Clinton laid out a series of proposals he said were designed to help turn his vision into reality.
Foremost among them was an end to the tax on capital gains for profits of less than $500,000 made from the sale of homes, and a package of tax credits and grants to employers who give jobs to long-term welfare recipients.
Both proposals were tailored to advance specific political objectives as Clinton enters the final lap of his last presidential campaign. His proposed capital-gains tax break is designed to appeal to middle-class voters - the swing group who will decide the election - and to counter the broader 15 percent across-the-board tax cut being pushed by Republican rival Dole.
Similarly, Clinton's goal in offering incentives for businesses to hire welfare recipients - beyond trying to ease a dire social problem - is in part an effort to heal the wound he opened in his own Democratic Party by signing the GOP-drafted welfare-reform bill last week.
Characteristically, Clinton primarily emphasized the positive in his acceptance speech. But he also warned of dangers in Dole's proposed tax cut - recalling soaring federal budget deficits that followed tax cuts of the 1980s.
``Do we really want to make the same mistake again? Do we really want to stop economic growth again? Do we really want to start piling up another mountain of debt? Do we really want to bring back the recession of 1991 and '92? Do we want to weaken our bridge to the 21st century?,'' Clinton demanded.
After each rhetorical question the crowd yelled ``No!''
``Of course we don't,'' Clinton continued. ``We have an obligation, you and I, to leave our children a legacy of opportunity, not a legacy of debt. ... This is one area which I respectfully disagree with my opponent. I don't believe we should bet the farm, and I certainly don't believe we should bet the country. We should stay on the right track to the 21st century.''
At the end of his hour-long address, clouds of sparkling confetti and red, white and blue balloons dropped onto cheering Democrats while the Clintons and Gores held arms aloft and waved.
Offstage, Morris' fall shook the Clinton campaign, for he had scripted the president's political resurrection after the sweeping Republican election triumph of 1994. Morris encouraged Clinton to move to the ideological center by advising him to endorse a balanced budget and to emphasize ``values issues,'' such as anti-crime initiatives, that appeal to ordinary Americans.
In his speech, Clinton repeated many of Morris's ideas - such as favoring V-chips in TVs, banning cop-killer bullets, and tougher handgun controls - portraying them as integral to his vision of a better America. He has been voicing such proposals all year long, and although critics say they are less than presidential in the scope of their ambition, Clinton's public-approval rating has been consistently strong since he started doing it.
``Those things count to the American people,'' said White House spokesman Mike McCurry, who said they are clear examples of Clinton's priorities should he win a second term. Other
In his speech, Clinton listed extending health-care reforms in incremental steps, narrowing the gap between rich and poor by improving education and job training, and sanding down the harsh edges on the historic new welfare-reform law as priorities.
``I propose also to give businesses a tax credit for every person hired off welfare and kept employed,'' Clinton said. ``I propose to offer private jobs-placement firms a bonus for every welfare recipient they place in a job who stays in it. And more important, I want to help communities put welfare recipients to work right now, without delay, repairing schools, making the neighborhoods clean and safe, making them shine again.''
He challenged business leaders, especially all who have complained about the welfare state, to hire someone off the welfare rolls. ``We have a moral obligation to make sure the people being required to work have the opportunity to work,'' Clinton insisted. ``We must make sure the jobs are there.''
LENGTH: Long : 126 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. President Clinton accepted the nomination forby CNBre-election at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on
Thursday night. He pledged to "build a bridge to the 21st century."
color.