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Time - Man of the Year
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Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
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1993-04-08
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THE WEEK, Page 12NATIONRolling into Uncharted Territory
Clinton still leads. But the end game is new and yet to be
played.
When the brief flurry of televised debates ended last Monday
in East Lansing, Michigan, the 1992 campaign seemed poised to
return to normal, or at least toward what passes for that
condition every four years in the U.S.: candidates barnstorming,
crowds growing more numerous and noisy, posters and signs
flapping in the cooling October sunshine. And that, on the
colorful, roiling surface, is pretty much what happened; how
accurate or deceiving these appearances were remains
tantalizingly in doubt.
There was President Bush, visibly elated and upbeat after
his strong showing in the third debate, addressing cheering
crowds, hammering home with new fire and focus his message that
voters should not entrust their government to a small-state
Democratic Governor whose public policies and statements, Bush
charged repeatedly, amounted to "a pattern of deception." But
the President was saying these things in places like North and
South Carolina, New Jersey, Florida -- states that have been
secure Republican bastions during recent national elections.
Campaigning so late in the race on formerly safe turf suggested,
despite all the attendant euphoria, a certain desperation among
the Bush forces.
And there was someone else hitting the hustings in
traditionally G.O.P. territory. Governor Clinton rode his
postdebate bounce into the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest
regions and even held a well-attended rally in Orange County,
California, prototypical rock-ribbed Republican country, where
he urged members of the audience to "hold their noses and vote
for a Democrat." All the national polls continued to show
Clinton in the lead, although the margins of approval varied
markedly and a TIME/CNN poll showed the gap could be as slight
as 3% if weighted toward not just those registered to vote but
those most likely to do so. The candidate and his aides
continued to warn against any overconfidence within their own
ranks that might translate into an apathetic Clinton turnout on
Nov. 3.
Both major candidates have good reason to be wary, because
somewhere in his 17th-floor aerie in a North Dallas office
building is Ross Perot, whose potential impact on the 1992 race
is still unclear. Generally written off when he re-entered the
campaign on Oct. 1, Perot profited from his three blunt,
engaging debate performances and his well-received, 30-minute
TV commercials. Holding his public appearances and press
conferences to a minimum, Perot has nonetheless seen his ratings
climb from single digits into figures that in such states as New
Mexico, Arizona, Arkansas and California approach those of Bush.
An old political adage has it that Americans don't really
get serious about presidential elections until after the World
Series. Thanks to baseball's play-off schedule, the fall classic
now runs deep into October, this year leaving scarcely more
than a week between its conclusion and Election Day. If the
penultimate flurry of campaigning is any indication, it could
be an interesting, perhaps surprising, week.