Former President Bill Clinton salutes the crowd Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 after speaking at an Early Vote rally in Miami. (AP)

It was vintage Bill Clinton, a lip-biting, thumb-wagging, center-of-attention performance. Seven weeks after quadruple bypass heart surgery, looking pale and unusually thin, the former president came back to give John Kerry a sendoff for the final week of the campaign — promoting his own presidency as well — and bluntly framed the campaign between Kerry and President Bush.

"You've got a clear choice between two strong men with great convictions and philosophies, different policies with very different consequences for this city, this state, our nation and the world," Clinton told thousands of Democrats crammed shoulder-to-shoulder inside three city blocks.

Nobody seemed to notice that he had just called Bush strong, with equal billing to Kerry. Then again, few in the crowd seemed to be there to hear Kerry who, according to polls, is supported by a political base united in its disdain for Bush more than its enthusiasm for the Democratic nominee.

"Who did I come to see?" asked Lisa Jackson, 44, of Upper Darby, Pa, in a tone that suggested the answer was obvious. "Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton. I can see John Kerry any time, but this is Bill Clinton."

Kerry hopes that Clinton can help turn out Democratic voters, especially blacks like Jackson who are lukewarm about their nominee. After the rally, Kerry and Clinton held a conference call with black ministers across the country and had lunch with state politicians and "as many other hanger-oners who could fit in the room," said Kerry spokesman Mike McCurry.

Clinton plans to campaign without Kerry this weekend in the tossup states of Nevada and New Mexico as well as his home state of Arkansas, a GOP-leaning state where polls suggest that Bush's lead has shrunk.

Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky made him a political pariah in Democrat Al Gore's race against Bush four years ago, but now the former president has a higher approval ratings than Bush or Kerry in some polls.

Robert Maris, 40, of Philadelphia peered through binoculars at the stage two blocks away. "I came here to see my man," he said. "Bill Clinton. I hope he brings his best stuff."

There were flashes of Clinton at his best from the moment he took the stage with Kerry, waving to the crowd before acknowledging the applause and his medical recovery with one 12-word opening.

"If this isn't good for my heart," he said, putting his hand to his chest, "I don't know what is."

And so began a speech that ran about 1,400 words, nearly half as long as the one to follow from Kerry.

"From time to time, I have been called the Comeback Kid. In eight days, John Kerry's going to make America the comeback country," he said.

Clinton gave himself the comeback moniker 12 years ago, putting a good face on his second-place finish in New Hampshire's Democratic primary.

In making his case for Kerry, Clinton used a rhetorical tool that dates to his days as Arkansas' governor: statistics. Nobody uses numbers like Clinton. There are 249,000 new cases of poverty in Pennsylvania. Some 333,000 people who lost health insurance. Unemployment is up 26 percent. About 140,000 unemployed workers were kicked off job training and 88,000 cops have been pulled off the streets.

(Agencies)

disdain: lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike（輕蔑）

lukewarm : feeling or showing little interest or enthusiasm（冷淡的）