President Clinton, whose political woes threaten to drag down Democratic candidates in midterm elections, used the crime bill Tuesday as a weapon against Republicans taking aim at him.
"There were some who just thought it was important to kill the bill - for political reasons," he told hundreds of police officers attending a conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.Without criticizing the Republican Party by name, he told the police: "We must never again permit crime to be divisive in a partisan political way, and you can stop it and I want you to do it."
But he made crime a political issue, in a further attempt to redefine himself and his party as "new Democrats," not old liberals, in the face of slumping popularity.
Even here, in a state he carried two years ago, poll ratings are dropping. An Albuquerque Journal poll published Tuesday showed that his approval rating has dropped in recent months.
The poll, based on telephone interviews Oct. 11-13 with 601 registered voters statewide, showed that 37 percent of those surveyed approved of his performance, com-pared with 45 percent in April. The poll showed 51 percent disapproved of his performance.
Not by coincidence, Republican Colin McMillan has made Clinton the center of his campaign to unseat two-term Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman.
"I think the Clinton agenda is the issue," McMillan said. Like dozens of other Democrats, Bingaman has been forced to distance himself from his
president. "Our campaign, of course, will point out that while I've supported the president on many initiatives that I think he was right on, I've opposed him on others and will continue to do so," he said.
Echoing his standard political speech, Clinton listed his accomplishments, including and improved economy.
Perhaps explaining why his popularity is diving despite better economic conditions, he added: "No matter how much economic progress we make, there will be a gnawing feeling that all is not right in America until our children feel safe in their schools and streets and Americans feel secure in their homes."