Seven weeks after undergoing quadruple heart bypass surgery, former President Bill Clinton joined John Kerry on the campaign trail, attending rallies in Philadelphia and Miami on 25 October 2004.
Clinton, 58, said he had obtained his doctors' clearance to participate, pointing to an unusually competitive race as his reason for getting involved. Polls at the time showed Kerry and President George W. Bush running essentially even, with each party's base accounting for roughly 45 percent of the electorate.
The Philadelphia stop was deliberate: the city's sizable African American population gave Kerry an opportunity to shore up a demographic that had historically backed Democrats by wide margins. Surveys showed Kerry winning about 80 percent of Black voters, below the roughly 90 percent Al Gore had received in 2000.
Kerry welcomed the support, noting that Clinton's record on balanced budgets, debt reduction, and minimum wage increases stood in contrast to the Bush years. Kerry dismissed concerns that the Lewinsky affair would hurt his campaign, saying he, not Clinton, was the one on the ballot.
Republicans were less enthusiastic. White House communications director Dan Bartlett contended that Clinton's early appearance on the trail revealed a weakness in Kerry's coalition, arguing the Democrat was underperforming with key parts of his own base.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in October 2004, in its own words.