Clinton addresses senators on tactics

The former president hasn't endorsed any of his party's presidential candidates.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
WASHINGTON -- Bill Clinton's first working visit on Capitol Hill with Democratic senators since the end of his presidency three years ago was supposed to be a low-key, off-the-record affair.
But Clinton, looking fit and energized, seized the opportunity to praise Sen. John F. Kerry, newly designated front-runner for the party's presidential nomination, and to tell reporters what he thought Democrats needed to do to win the election this year.
Emerging from a lengthy strategy session, Clinton, who is considered a centrist, leaped to Kerry's defense when a reporter asked whether the senator from Massachusetts was a "little too liberal" to be elected.
"I don't think it's fair to say he can't be elected, or that he's too far to the left," Clinton said. He noted that Kerry had stood behind his efforts to slash the federal deficit.
Kerry vaulted into the Democratic front-runner position after winning the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Clinton has not endorsed any of the candidates, and he declined to predict who might win the Democratic nomination.
"I still think we have a good field," he said. "And by the way, you may know what's going to happen, but I don't."
What talks covered
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who had asked Clinton to address the strategy session, stood silently beside him as he spoke. Senators said the discussions were private, and many declined to comment on them.
Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, one of the few willing to speak on the record, said Clinton "emphasized projecting an image of strength on national security, a willingness to defend the country in a better, more intelligent way than the current administration. He said he thought we could win on the economy and health care, and by putting a human face on the deficit."
Clinton was not shy about discussing his ideas.
"We talked about what the Senate Democrats can do to be more focused in their communications strategy, and what was likely to happen in the coming year, and I gave them a few little ideas," Clinton told reporters.
"I don't know if they are any good," he added. "I'm a little out of it."
Since his presidency, which was shadowed by a sex scandal and his impeachment trial, Clinton has come to Capitol Hill several times. But this was his first business trip; his previous visits were to see his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, now the junior senator from New York. Sen. Clinton attended Thursday's session but declined to comment on it.
Upcoming retreat
House Democrats have asked the former president to deliver the keynote address next Thursday at their strategy retreat at a Virginia resort. He is the only former elected official invited to attend a weekend meeting that will be largely devoted to hearing from pollsters and consultants, said Rep. Robert T. Matsui of Sacramento, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
"I don't think there is any question that he's the dominant Democratic politician of our generation," Matsui said.
"His political judgment is obviously very good, and I would think that, as we figure out how to make the next election different from the last two, he's someone I would want to hear from," said Howard L. Berman, D-Calif. "In addition to being a tremendously talented political leader, he is a talented political analyst."