LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15 -- Evoking 1992 campaign themes for his last major political address Monday night, President Clinton claimed success in building the "bridge to the 21st century" with a list of social and economic indicators moving in positive directions during his administration, and urged Democrats to throw their support behind Vice President Al Gore to ensure continued prosperity.
"My fellow Americans tonight we can say with gratitude and humility, we have built our bridge," Clinton said to thousands of delegates and Democratic supports in an emotional keynote speech at the opening of his party's 2000 convention. "We crossed that bridge together, and we're not going back."
Citing a litany of recent federal statistics, Clinton said the last eight years under his leadership alongside Gore had brought the country unprecedented prosperity, which must be handled carefully by voters who chose the next American leaders in the 2000 elections.
"We're in the midst of the longest economic expansion in history," Clinton said to thunderous applause from a packed arena. "More than 22 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment in 30 years, the lowest female unemployment in 40 years the lowest Hispanic and African American unemployment rate ever recorded and the highest homeownership in history!"
As Clinton spoke, lighted signs wrapped around the lower balcony ring of the auditorium flashed, "Thank You, President Clinton" and "America, Better than Ever."
Prolonged applause erupted into chants of "Thank You Bill" as Clinton spoke, delivering one of his most energized speeches.
"My fellow Americans, are we better off than we were eight years ago?" Clinton asked, recalling a Republican mantra used during the Reagan and Bush years. "You bet we are. You bet we are. Yes we are! Yes we are!"
Clinton said the economic progress during the last eight was reflected in social gains as well.
"We're not just better off, we're also a better country," Clinton said. "Since 1992, America has grown not just economically but as a community. Yes, jobs are up but so are adoptions. Yes, the debt is down but so is teen pregnancy."
Clinton said Gore and his running mate, Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., could further the upward trends economically and socially, as opposed to Republicans, who, Clinton said, risked ruining the economy with a tax cut that would return the county to the fiscal pitfalls of deficit spending.
"Al Gore and Joe Lieberman will keep our prosperity going by paying down the debt, investing in education and health care, moving more people from welfare to work and providing family tax cuts that we can afford," Clinton said. "That stands in stark contrast to the position of our Republican friends."
The GOP's plans to use the bulk of the projected surplus for massive tax cuts, Clinton said, would leave nothing for education, Medicare, prescription drug benefit plans, Social Security, fiscal emergencies or unexpected budget shortfalls.
Clinton said the presidential races were the biggest stakes as voters headed to the polls in November. But he also stressed the importance of congressional elections as well.
"We in American would already have, this year, a patients bill of rights, a minimum wage increase, stronger equal pay laws for women and middle class tax cuts for college tuition and long-term care if the Democratic Party were in the majority in Congress," Clinton said. "And that's why every House and every Senate seat is important."
On that note, the president lavishly praised first lady Hilary Rodham Clinton's public service commitment in a plug for her New York Senate bid.
"She's been a great first lady," Clinton said, capping a list of her initiatives in the Family Leave law, education and children's health care as she looked on, smiling broadly, after delivering her own convention address. "She's always been there for our family, and she'll always be there for families of New York."
Save for a handful of spontaneous outbursts of "thank you, Bill" from the crowd, few in the audience stirred as Clinton spoke for nearly 45 minutes, addressing a sweeping range of issues, including foreign policy and the environment.
The speech was notable for its relative lack of partisan rhetoric, though Clinton did take a few jabs at the Republicans, who staged their own convention about two weeks ago when Texas Gov. George W. Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney, Clenched their party's top White House nominations.
Clinton scoffed at suggestions voiced by some at the GOP convention in Philadelphia that his administration lucked into the current economic expansion.
"To those who say the progress of these last eight years was just some sort accident, that we just kind of coasted along, let me be clear. America's success was not just a matter of chance, it was a matter of choice."
Clinton said the economic turnaround came with policies his administration pushed without support of Republicans, who, in budget battles in the early 1990s, said they would not be responsible for the state of the economy under the Clinton White House.
"Their leaders said our plan would increase the deficit, kill jobs and give us a one-way ticket to recession," Clinton said. "Time has not been kind to their predictions. Remember, our Republican friends said then they would absolutely not be held responsible for our economic policies. I hope the American people take them at their word."
Clinton's smash address marked his last moments at the center of Democratic politics after commanding center stage for roughly a decade. But, despite the air of nostalgia surrounding the speech, Clinton hardly became wistful, except, perhaps, in his closing remarks, which echoed the campaign slogan of his first White House run.
"Whenever you think of me, keep putting people first," Clinton said. "Keep building those bridges, and don't stop thinking about tomorrow."
