OS ANGELES - With his vice president striving to succeed him and his wife running for the US Senate, President Clinton last night rejected Republican claims that his administration ''coasted'' through prosperity, and pleaded for the nation to entrust the White House to Al Gore.
Clinton's appearance at the Democratic National Convention inevitably moved some to remember the darker chapters of his presidency - the affair, the impeachment, the Senate trial. However, the president used his speech at the Staples Center to focus on the future. Reprising his 1996 convention call to build a bridge to the 21st century, Clinton urged the nation not to reverse course.
''My fellow Americans, tonight we can say with confidence: We built our bridge to the 21st century,'' Clinton said, according to the prepared text of his remarks. ''We crossed it together. And we're not going back.''
Clinton's appearance, while much anticipated by the adoring crowd, raised the possibility that the president's appearance would overshadow nominee-in-waiting Gore.
Days before Clinton's speech, Democrats were hoping that Clinton would use his rhetorical wizardry to remind voters of how far the nation has come since the Clinton-Gore team defeated George Bush in 1992. But at the same time, the vice president's campaign was anxious to dim the Clinton spotlight and turn the focus to Gore's race against Bush's son, George W. Bush.
The Gore campaign script for the four-day convention focuses on courting moderate voters, and highlighting the life and leadership of Gore and his vice presidential candidate, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman. Lieberman was picked partly for his reputation for moral rectitude and for his condemnation of Clinton's behavior with former intern Monica S. Lewinsky.
Yesterday, however, was pure Clinton, as the president hop-scotched the city, was serenaded by celebrities, and drew roar after roar from the convention crowd.
Over the weekend, Clinton had partied with the stars, rubbed shoulders with major donors, and stayed up until the wee hours. Yesterday morning, in a fashion that has marked his presidency, Clinton delayed some events to take extra time to rewrite his speech. After appearing at the convention and soaking up the adulation from the delegates, he planned to celebrate on the back lot of Paramount Studios, where he was expected to be greeted by 10,000 supporters. Then it was off to yet another midnight party, this one for faithful White House staff members.
While Gore was campaigning yesterday in Missouri, Clinton returned to the setting of some of the most memorable moments of his political career.
Twelve years ago, Clinton appeared before the convention in Atlanta and left in embarrassment, as delegates applauded his announcement that he was ending an overly long speech nominating Governor Michael S. Dukakis for president. Eight years ago, Clinton used the convention to introduce himself to the nation as the man who believed in a ''place called Hope.'' Four years ago, he arrived in triumph, confident he would win reelection.
Last night, Clinton arrived amid a mixture of triumph and embarrassment, taking credit for the sterling economy but aware that many Americans will always remember him for his affair with a White House intern.
''He says he's sorry, what else can he do,'' said Virginia Benedict, a Maryland delegate. ''I'm very dedicated to the president. Monica Lewinsky - that doesn't put food on the table.''
But Beverly White, a Utah delegate who praised Clinton's job performance, acknowledged that some television viewers will have mixed emotions hearing Clinton. ''I like Clinton,'' she said. But ''he needs his butt kicked, speaking as a mother.''
Gore spokesman Chris Lehane, asked if there was any concern in the campaign about Clinton's domination of the first day of the convention, said it was part of ''handing off the baton.'' Lehane, a New Englander, likened it to a changing of the stars on the Boston Red Sox.
''It's like Carl Yastrzemski replacing Ted Williams,'' Lehane said.
Clinton delivered a speech designed to evoke Reaganesque optimism, portraying America as a place that is much better than when he and Gore took office in 1993, and not just because of the robust economy.
''Our progress is about far more than economics,'' he said. ''America is more confident, hopeful, and just, more secure and free, because we offered a vision and worked together to achieve it.''
America, Clinton said, is more confident because of progress in education, and more just because of the way tax cuts have been targeted to help families pay for college and poor people to move into the middle class.
Responding to claims at last month's GOP convention that the administration had coasted through its economic prosperity rather than used it to fix big problems like Social Security, Clinton, without uttering Bush's name, said the nation's progress was not something that happened accidentally.
''To those who say the progress of the last eight years was an accident, that we coasted along, let's be clear: America's success was not a matter of chance, it was a matter of choice,'' he said.
''Today America faces another choice, every bit as momentous as the one eight years ago. For what a nation does with good fortune is just as stern a test of its character, values, and vision as how it deals with adversity.''
The president then launched into a testimonial for Gore, who has long labored in Clinton's shadow and often been caricatured as someone who has trouble ''connecting'' with voters.
''Of course, the biggest choice you have to make is in the presidential race. Now, you know how I feel. But it's not my decision to make. It's yours. I just want to tell you a few things I know about Al Gore.
''We've worked closely together for eight years now. In the most difficult days of the last years, when we faced the toughest issues - of war and peace, of taking on powerful special interests - he was always there.
''More than anybody else I've known in public life, Al Gore understands the future and how sweeping changes can affect Americans' daily lives,'' he said.
Clinton gave himself and Gore credit for overseeing the longest economic expansion in American history, producing 22 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment in 30 years, and the highest home ownership rate in history.
''Al Gore and Joe Lieberman will keep our prosperity going by paying down the debt, investing in education and health care, and in family tax cuts that we can afford,'' Clinton said.
''In stark contrast, the GOP wants to spend every dime of our projected surplus and then some - leaving nothing for education or Medicare prescription drugs, nothing to extend the life of Medicare and Social Security, nothing for emergencies, nothing in case the projected surpluses don't come in.''
Polls show the vice president trailing Bush, though the margin varies from poll to poll. And Gore faces a tough set of problems as he pursues Bush: lingering voter discontent with Clinton's affair, the lack of an overwhelming issue and a battle on the left with Green Party nominee Ralph Nader.
The president was introduced by his wife, Hillary, who is running for the US Senate from New York. ''I still believe `It takes a village,''' Mrs. Clinton said, quoting the title of her book, according to prepared remarks. ''And it certainly takes Al Gore and Joe Lieberman. They have what it takes. And they'll do what it takes.''
The appearances by the Clintons overshadowed the night's carefully scripted focus on ''prosperity and progress.'' Adopting a talk-show format, the convention stage was used for a self-congratulatory panel discussion on economic ''success stories'' and ''issues for working families.''
Earlier in the day, Gore's lone rival for the nomination, former senator Bill Bradley, formally released his 359 delegates from their pledge to vote for his nomination. ''All of my efforts and thoughts are directed toward November, not beyond that,'' Bradley told the Associated Press. ''I actually think I'll be moving toward the private sector.''
Just as Republicans honored former presidents at their convention, the Democrats showed a video tribute to President Jimmy Carter, who is more popular today than when he was in office. Carter, appearing in the convention hall, flashed his famous grin and stood in acknowledgment of the cheers from the delegates. And, just as Republicans sought to present themselves as diverse, the Democrats featured an appearance by six female US senators.
In what is expected to be one of the most emotional moments of the convention, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is scheduled to address the convention tonight, evoking memories of her father, John F. Kennedy, who secured his presidential nomination in Los Angeles 40 years ago, and of her brother, John F. Kennedy Jr., who died while piloting a private aircraft last year.
Susan Milligan, traveling with Gore, contributed to this report.
