by Jerome Bernard
CANONSBURG, Pennsylvania, Sept 6 (AFP) - Ex-president Bill Clinton spoke with Senator John Kerry from his hospital bed at the weekend about strengthening the campaign against President George W. Bush, as the president takes a mounting opinion poll lead.
A Kerry spokeswoman also confirmed that the Massachussets had appointed a new senior advisor to help him until the November 2 vote but the campaign has denied there have been panic changes.
According to US media reports there is mounting concern in the Democratic camp that Kerry is not being aggressive enough against Bush.
The Massachusetts senator spoke with Clinton on Friday and Saturday as Clinton awaited his heart bypass surgery, said Kerry spokeswoman Allison Dobson.
"On Friday night Kerry called to wish him well. And they decided to speak in the evening on Saturday night," she said. "They had a discussion about the campaign."
Clinton and Kerry spoke for 90 minutes, according to the New York Times, and the former president told Kerry to move away from talking about his Vietnam war record and instead attack Bush on job creation and health care.
Several media reports highlighted rising concern among Democratic leaders about the state of the Kerry campaign. There has been criticism that Kerry was slow to respond to attacks on his military record and to counter Bush on domestic policy.
The spokeswoman confirmed that John Sasso, who has been running election operations for the Democratic national committee, would join the Kerry campaign from Monday as a senior advisor.
Senior roles have also been given to several former Clinton aides. Joe Lockhart a former White House spokesman and Doug Sosnik, a former Clinton political director, joined the campaign last week.
While Kerry officials said there was no Clinton takeover, the New York Times said there was now two camps at the Kerry headquarters: "the existing Kerry high command" and "the Clinton camp."
Kerry spent the Labor Day holiday on the campaign trail in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
Political campaign strategists consider the holiday to be the point when most US voters begin to focus in earnest on election day.
Kerry is on the defensive after polls released since the Republican National Convention closed last week, showed Bush with a commanding lead.
Time magazine, in a poll made public Friday, found Bush up 52-41 percent over Kerry. Newsweek`s poll, out Saturday, had Bush up 54-43 percent over Kerry. Both surveys had an error margin of plus or minus four percentage points.
Kerry was virtually tied with Bush for most of the summer but his campaign foundered in recent weeks following attacks on his military record during the Vietnam War and the lashing he received by Bush and other speakers at the convention.
Much attention will be focused on the televised debates which are a opportunity for each candidate to make major political gains.
The US Commission on Presidential Debates -- the non-profit organization tasked with setting the official debate schedule and format -- has planned three prospective debates: September 30th in Coral Gables, Florida; October 8th, in St. Louis, Missouri; and October 13th in Tempe, Arizona.
Lockhart in one of his first appearances since joining Kerry, accused the Bush campaign of stonewalling on agreeing to the debate dates.
"We need, `Let`s show up at these debates ... If the president has an agenda that he can defend, show up at the debates," Lockhart said.
Both candidates spent the three-day weekend feverishly campaigning in so-called battleground states which, together with some 2.6 million undecided voters, are expected to decide the election.