Bill Clinton: 'I never had a nickel until I left the White House'...

Presidential Elections - AP

Clinton Rally Delights Iowa Democrats

1 hour, 59 minutes ago

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer

INDIANOLA, Iowa - Former President Clinton (news - web sites) touted a field of Democratic contenders he said was the strongest in decade, and launched a spirited assault on a Bush administration he said governs through "ideology, enemies and attacks."

AP Photo

"The last election was tight as a tick," Clinton told a party rally Saturday. "That election was not a mandate for radical change, but that was what we got."

Clinton brought thousands of activists huddled on a rain-soaked field to life, repeatedly by assaulting Bush. He ripped into Bush's tax cut and handling of foreign policy and joked he was now the beneficiary of tax cuts for the wealthy.

"Don't tell me about class warfare," Clinton said. "I'm all for wealth and business. I just think we all ought to go up together."

The former president told activists that he has become rich since leaving the White House, largely based on a big book contract: "I never had a nickel until I left the White House.

The tax cuts Bush pushed were a prime target.

"What's the sacrifice that's being asked of people who make more than $1 million a year?" Clinton asked. "It's the energy they have to expend opening the envelopes containing their tax cuts."

Clinton spoke after seven of the Democratic presidential contenders on hand praised him.

He said Bush was given great opportunities but has largely fumbled them. "Instead of uniting the world, we alienated it," he said. "Instead of uniting the country, he alienated it."

While some have warned that the field of nine Democratic candidates will have a tough time ousting Bush, Clinton dismissed those worries.

"I like this field, and I'm tired of people saying that this field can't beat an incumbent president," he said. "This is the best field of candidates we have had in decades."

Clinton urged the candidates to hammer home their differences with Bush, differences he said haven't penetrated with most voters.

"The American people, not 5 percent of them know they gave me a tax cut and then kicked children out of after-school programs," said Clinton. "They are not putting those things together. All we have to do is make it clear what our differences are."

The exchanges came at Sen. Tom Harkin (news, bio, voting record)'s annual steak fry Saturday at Indianola, 20 miles south of Des Moines.

Republican National Committee (news - web sites) spokesman David James said Clinton's presence "clearly overshadowed a weak field of candidates."

He said Clinton campaigned for several candidates who lost in the last election, adding; "With that kind of track record we hope to see him on the campaign trail early and often."

The campaign's early, and surprise, front-runner, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (news - web sites) said he would welcome Clinton's help in campaigning should he win the nomination.

Clinton is "a larger-than-life figure," Dean said. When you look at what's happened to the country economically since then, Clinton looks pretty good."

In 2000, presidential nominee Al Gore (news - web sites) and his running mate, current candidate Sen. Joe Lieberman (news - web sites) of Connecticut, rarely mentioned the retiring president.

At the rally, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt (news - web sites) decided not to make a speech but mingled briefly with activists.

"Bill Clinton (news - web sites) was a great president for the economy," said Gephardt, who said he would eagerly campaign with Clinton if he gets the nomination. "Absolutely, he's going to help me beat George Bush," said Gephardt.

Sen. John Edwards (news, bio, voting record) of North Carolina said Clinton campaigned for him in 1998 when he entered the Senate. "I stood with Clinton, and it worked," he said. "He led the greatest period of economic expansion in history and we ought to be proud of him."

Another candidate, Sen. Bob Graham (news, bio, voting record) of Florida, praised Clinton's political intuition and skills, which he said he would welcome as part of his campaign.

"Aren't we proud to have Bill Clinton as an American and a Democrat," said Graham

Former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun made a gender-based pitch. "We are all in the same boat and a woman can guide this ship of state," she said.

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich (news, bio, voting record) made the case for his single-payer health insurance plan, saying: "We are paying for universal health care, we're just not getting it."

In Saturday's opening speech, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (news, bio, voting record) compared the 1990s Clinton economy with today's and said he is looking to restore Clintonian ideas, which he said still resonate with the voters.

Kerry said middle-class taxpayers benefited by Clinton's focus on working Americans. "With George Bush in the White House, the middle class has been forgotten all over again," Kerry said.

He said he speaks often with Clinton: "He's available to everybody. I like the advice I get."

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