    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 8, 1994]
    [Pages 2040-2041]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With Paul W. Smith of WWDB Radio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    November 8, 1994

        Mr. Smith. What a pleasure, indeed, it is to welcome back to the
    program, in an exclusive Philadelphia interview, live from the White
    House, ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
        Mr. President, good morning to you. Happy election day.
        The President. Thank you, Paul W. It's nice to hear your voice
    again.

    Midterm Elections

        Mr. Smith. Well, it's nice to have you back. It indicates to me how
    important you feel the voters of Pennsylvania and New Jersey are and
    Delaware are in this election year, because you have been all over the
    place. I recall several weeks ago, the Washington press corps alleging
    that there weren't a lot of people who wanted the President to come out
    and campaign for them. But as Dee Dee Myers pointed out then, and as you
    certainly have seemed to prove over the last several days, you couldn't
    possibly get to all the places where people wanted you. You and Mrs.
    Clinton have been all over the country campaigning.
        The President. Well, we have, and the Vice President and Mrs. Gore
    have also been out there a lot. Leon Panetta's been out there a lot, and
    our Cabinet has.
        But we have been confronted with quite a challenge just in the
    generally negative tone of the atmosphere that has concerned me some
    about the turnout. You know, I had to take a few days to go to the
    Middle East on what was a truly historic mission for our country and for
    the cause of peace in the world. And when I was there and when I was
    coming back, I was struck by how strongly and how positively the rest of
    the world looks at the United States, at our system, at the strength of
    our economic recovery, at the fact that we seem to be facing problems
    that we ignored for a long time. And they are often asking me
    questions--world leaders in other places--about how this negative
    feeling creeps over our people and why it has such a hold at election
    time.
        So I wanted to do these election morning interviews more than
    anything else just to encourage our citizens to get out and vote, to
    make their voices heard, not to sit this election out simply because
    they feel negatively about perhaps some of the ads or some of the tone
    of the campaign. Because our country is facing our problems, we're
    moving into the future, and we need the American people to be engaged in
    this process. And we need all kinds of people to be engaged in the
    process, just ordinary mainstream Americans showing up to vote and to
    try to have their interests and their values advanced in this election.
        Mr. Smith. Why do you think, Mr. President, this has appeared to be
    the sleaziest, dirtiest, worst campaign yet? And if, in fact, it works
    for some candidates, one wonders just how bad it will get the next time
    around.
        The President. Well, of course, that's the whole point I'm trying to
    make. I'm afraid it's been that way because this is a place where the
    people rule, and a lot of the polling data indicates that sometimes
    these negative campaigns work, that when people get down on the
    political system and down on politicians, they're a little more prone to
    believe the worst as opposed to the best.
        And actually, if you look at the history of this country, the rich
    and strong and long his-

    [[Page 2041]]

    tory, we have often had our difficulties in the political system. And
    we've had a scoundrel or two in the history of America, but most of our
    public officials have been honest and straightforward people. And most
    of the time the differences have been over what direction we should
    take. And when we get into voting about who is the worst, as opposed to
    what do these people believe and what are they going to do, I think that
    puts us at some risk of making bad decisions.
        And that's what I've been trying to do traveling around the country
    since I've come back from the Middle East, is to say to the American
    people, you know, whatever you do, let's look at this in a forward-
    looking way. How are we going to go forward? How are we going to work
    together and move this country forward? We don't want to go back, and we
    don't want to be divided, and we don't want to think less of ourselves
    as a result of this election, because we have a very great country. And
    others who maybe sometimes see us more clearly than we even see
    ourselves know that for all of our problems, we're facing them, we're
    moving forward, and we have enormous potential. Our best days are still
    ahead of us. And every election is an obligation of those of us who are
    citizens to kind of keep this ball moving forward.
        Mr. Smith. Mr. Clinton--Mr. President, you have extended, kind of in
    advance, an olive branch saying that you will work with everyone and
    that you can, your administration can work with everyone. How do you
    feel this election morning in terms of the chances that there will be
    more Republicans? Republicans have not held majorities in both Houses of
    Congress simultaneously since 1954. There is a very good chance you're
    going to have many more Republicans there on the Hill than we've had in
    a number of years. Do you sense this morning that that will be the case,
    or would you rather wait until the polls close?
        The President. I think it depends entirely on the turnout, really. I
    think they have some things going for them: the fact that in every
    election in the 20th century but one the party opposite the President
    has made gains in at least one House at midterm, and I think all
    elections but three they made gains in both Houses; the fact that we've
    had for most of the last 30 years a divided Government--some people are
    used to that--that is, the President in one party, the Congress of
    another.
        I think there are some things working against that: the fact that we
    have been able to accomplish quite a bit that, in the atmosphere in
    which we were operating in, almost no one knew until about 3 weeks ago--
    we finally being able to get a little bit of information out about how
    much the President and the Congress accomplished working together. And I
    think we have to just keep working on that and keep going forward.
        Mr. Smith. Mr. President, thank you for being with us. We do
    appreciate it again----
        The President. Thank you.
        Mr. Smith. ----and it's quite an honor to have the President of the
    United States twice in one week.
        The President. Well, it's great to hear your voice. And of course,
    you know I think the world of Senator Wofford; I hope he'll be reelected
    today. And I hope that your listeners in these other States will go out
    and vote, and I hope their voices will be heard. And I hope they will do
    it in a good spirit, believing in our country, believing in our future.
    This is not the time for negativism. This is a time to be upbeat but
    aggressive in tackling our problems and seizing our opportunities.
        And I thank you for talking to me today.
        Mr. Smith. By the way, President Clinton, thank you for the kind
    words about President Reagan's revelation over the weekend. It was most
    appreciated around the country, I think.
        The President. Thank you.

    Note: The interview began at 7:21 a.m. The President spoke by telephone
    from the Oval Office at the White House.