WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (AFP) - Bill Clinton will return to the campaign trail on behalf of Democratic candidate John Kerry, party officials said Sunday, six weeks after the still-popular former president underwent heart surgery to bypass blocked arteries.
Clinton's rounds start Monday with a national television interview and a rally in Philadelphia, in the showdown state of Pennsylvania.
"President Clinton has enormous standing with the base of the Democratic Party. He will energize it. He has incredible numbers, almost unbelievable numbers with African-Americans for example. So I think he will bring enormous energy to the Democratic Party base," Kerry adviser Tad Devine told Fox television.
White House communications director Dan Bartlett dismissed Clinton's potential effect on the campaign.
"The fact that John Kerry's going to have to roll him off the surgery table and onto the campaign trail demonstrates a revealing aspect, that he's underperforming in key parts of his own constituency," Bartlett told Fox.
Clinton, 58, has been recuperating at his home in Chappaqua, New York, since undergoing surgery, limiting his campaign contributions to written statements and advice offered over the telephone.
Since leaving office, Clinton has continued as a force in the Democratic party and, despite the sex scandal that led to his impeachment, he remains a hugely popular figure in US politics.
He drew thousands of people on a book tour earlier this year to promote his best-selling autobiography "My Life," and was widely seen as the star of the show at July's Democratic National Convention, overshadowing Kerry with a speech that electrified the party faithful.
A seasoned and extremely effective campaigner, Clinton was controversially kept away from the stump in 2000 by Al Gore, who believed his scandal-tarnished former boss would be a liability.
10/24/2004 15:56 GMT - AFP