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Clinton does Hollywood, is he stealing the show? |
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August 13, 2000
LOS ANGELES (AP) - President Bill Clinton on Friday shrugged off talk that he's stealing the limelight from Al Gore with a weekend filled with Hollywood-style fund-raisers, parties and tributes just before the Democratic National Convention begins on Monday. "I never heard him say that," Clinton said after greeting supporters who met him at the Los Angeles airport. Later at a fund-raiser, Clinton gave Gore equal credit for the nation's economic prosperity and praised him for his vision, saying: "This is a guy that I know will do what he thinks is right." Clinton's pre-convention events include a brunch hosted by Barbra Streisand to raise money for the Clinton presidential library and a concert to benefit first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign for a Senate seat in New York. There also are thank-you dinners for donors and a series of tributes to the president, leading some to wonder whether the Clintons are siphoning money from other Democrats. White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said the weekend events haven't bred animosity among the vice president, president and first lady. "Normal people," Lockhart said, would find nothing suspect in the president's desire to "come out a few days early to say thank you to a lot of people in Los Angeles." HIllary Clinton, meanwhile, stopped in at "The Tonight Show" and got a laugh with a little help from her daughter. Host Jay Leno asked the first lady what would happen if Chelsea, 20, changed affiliation and announced that the Republicans had good ideas. "I'd miss her a lot," Clinton replied. Chelsea Clinton gave her mom a laugh from the studio audience. Reflecting on leaving the White House, Clinton told Leno: "People will have a new president and life will go on. The only person I'm worried about is you. What are you going to talk about when we're gone?" The first lady had pre-taped a segment in which she walked around Rockefeller Center and asked people if she should appear on Leno's show, because "sometimes he's kind of mean." One woman advised her to go on the show because "otherwise he'll talk about you." In a relaxed give-and-take with Leno, Clinton praised the accomplishments of her husband's administration, outlined her own platform and extolled the beauty of New York state. But she said campaigning has not been easy. "I get yelled at to go home in 62 different languages, but it's part of the New York hazing experience," she said. |