Bill Clinton fielded calls from a national television audience Tuesday, offering to debate President Bush and Ross Perot once a week until Election Day and arguing that ending divided government was the best cure for Washington gridlock.
"A change-oriented Democrat who will challenge Congress but work with it has the best chance to bring real change to the lives of real people," Clinton said during an hourlong appearance on NBC's "Today" show.During a wide-ranging discussion, Clinton outlined his views to reduce the deficit, spark the economy, review the foreign aid budget with an eye on major cuts and open access to college aid.
Clinton's appearance was the latest of a series of television campaign stops by the 1992 presidential contenders.
"I sound like Jerry Brown," Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, joked at one point as he gave his campaign telephone number to a caller offering advice. Brown, Clinton's vanquished primary rival, used virtually every television interview to advertise his toll-free fund-raising number.
When a caller asked the Arkansas governor for his views on likely independent candidate Perot, the leader in the latest national poll, Clinton said the Texas billionaire's support was based on the "huge suspicion of the great plurality of the American people toward both parties."
But he said he was confident his standing would rebound when voters focused on the records and platforms of the candidates and his record of criticizing the Democratic Party from within.
Clinton then noted that there are 21 weeks left to Election Day, time for 21 debates - a challenge unlikely to be viewed seriously by either Bush or Perot.
With Perot due to appear on the "Today" show Thursday, Clinton said the first question should be for Perot to explain how he would make all the vague changes he promises.
"There is a difference between criticizing things and doing something about it," Clinton said. "I've been very specific and very clear and I think all of us owe that to the American people."