Clinton Points To Policy Successes
On Wednesday, he signed into law the new medical insurance bill making coverage more portable from job-to-job and guaranteeing continued coverage of existing medical conditions.
On Tuesday he put his signature on the bill increasing the minimum wage, and on Thursday he was set to do the same for the controversial welfare reform Bill over the objections of liberal Democrats.
Next week, he is expected to unveil policy initiatives dealing with crime, education and the environment.
Though he will resist the demands of Bob Dole, the Republican nominee, for across-the-board tax cuts, some officials have been hinting that he may propose targeted tax breaks for businesses that hire welfare recipients.
Clinton only arrives in Chicago on Wednesday after a three-day mid-western train trip, starting in West Virginia, in the course of which, according to the White House, other substantive'' policy announcements will be made.
The purpose is to contrast with last week's Republican convention in San Diego which was conspicuous for a harmony some felt was rigidly imposed.
There will be some news,'' Mike McCurry, the president's press spokesman, said sarcastically. Hillary Clinton will also be given a significant speaking role, as Liddy Dole was last week. The only obvious controversy ahead of Chicago concerns welfare reform.
In seeking to make news, the president will be looking for some bounce back in the polls in the wake of the improved standing of Dole. But there was further evidence Wednesday that the Dole recovery might be fading a little.
An ABC poll, taken on Sunday and Monday, had Clinton's lead back up to 12 points in a three-way race that included Ross Perot of the Reform Party, compared to only four points in one conducted last Thursday and Sunday.
It gave the president 49 per cent, Dole 37 per cent and Perot 10 per cent. A New York Times/CBS poll, which put Clinton 11 points up, had also found movement away from Dole.
McCurry's partisan interpretation was that the rubber band stretched and snapped back over the weekend and we're back to being about where we thought it was - a double-digit race''. But the Republican nominee could take heart from a new Field poll in California where the president's lead had been cut in half to 10 points (45-35 per cent) from its July level.
The Federal Communications Commission has given television networks permission to offer the main presidential candidates free air time during November's election, Reuter reports from Washington. The agency ruling means that Rupert Murdoch's Fox Network, ABC, and the Public Broadcasting Service can provide free time to major'' candidates, without giving minor or fringe candidates the same opportunity.