ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Considered a political albatross in 2000, former President Clinton is arguably the most sought-after Democratic campaigner in the final days of the midterm elections. Jetting into New York's state capital on Thursday, Clinton plans to pump up the congressional candidacy of Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and probably drop a good word or two about his wife, the state's junior senator.
It'll be a short visit before Clinton takes wing again, off to another competitive race as his party tries to take back Congress and capture statehouses across the country.
He has the frequent-flier miles to prove it:
_On Tuesday, Clinton campaigned for Gov. Jim Doyle in Milwaukee then flew to Kentucky to boost the fortunes of Democratic congressional candidates at a Louisville fundraiser.
_On Monday, the party's main attraction was in Ohio to back Rep. Sherrod Brown's effort to unseat Sen. Mike DeWine and throw a jolt of energy into Rep. Ted Strickland's bid for the governorship.
For the final week of the campaign, Clinton's staff already has him penciled in for events in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Michigan, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ohio, California and Colorado. Of course, he'll also be in New York, where Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is heavily favored to win re-election, a race many see as a prelude to her own run for the White House.
"One of the reasons he's such an effective campaigner is he loves it so much," said Democratic strategist Bill Carrick. "He has incredible enthusiasm for it and it really brings a lot of energy to everybody he campaigns for."
"He exudes, he radiates," agreed former New York Republican Sen. Alfonse D'Amato.
It has to be sweet revenge for a president who saw George W. Bush capture the White House that Clinton had expected to hand off to Al Gore six years ago. Clinton's former vice president distanced himself from the charismatic campaigner in 2000 and in doing so, many said, lost the presidency.
That wasn't long after Clinton's impeachment, in which he was accused of committing perjury and obstructing justice in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Though the Senate acquitted him, Clinton was a divisive figure back then.
The former president knows all too well the importance of midterm elections. It was the 1994 midterms during Clinton's first term that saw the Newt Gingrich-led Republican revolution wrest the House from the hands of Democrats.
Now that Democrats have a shot, "it is something he probably feels really good about," Carrick said of Clinton.
There's no doubt about that, said Republican strategist Nelson Warfield.
"Clinton does two things: he motivates the Democratic base and he continues his now lifetime effort to refurbish his images," Warfield said.
While Clinton's popularity has been on the rise, Bush's has been sinking.
"Republican candidates haven't wanted to be seen with President Bush. Democrats have wanted to be seen with President Clinton," said Karen Finney, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.
Not so, according to Republican National Committee spokesman Aaron McLear.
"The president is more in demand and has raised more money for Republican candidates this cycle than he did four years ago," McLear said. "He reminds people of Republican economic policies that have created over 6 million jobs in the past three years and an America that hasn't been attacked since 9/11.
While Bush has been on the road for many Republicans—and will continue to campaign in the next week and a half, some have said they don't want the president's presence.
"We just decided, just said, 'Just stay in Washington,'" vulnerable Republican Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., told the Evansville Courier & Press in a story Wednesday. "Said, 'Thank you, but no thank you, we're going to run our election.'"
As Election Day gets closer, Clinton has increasingly bludgeoned the nation's Republican leadership.
"When the chips are down, this country has been jammed to the right, jammed into an ideological corner, alienated from its allies, and we're in a lot of trouble," Clinton told Democrats in Las Vegas earlier this month as he campaigned for several candidates.
The candidates Clinton finds time to help are appreciative.
"It shows they believe in this race," said Gillibrand, who is trying to unseat Republican incumbent John Sweeney.
According to the DNC's Finney, Clinton is an especially powerful weapon because many voters view the 2006 elections as a referendum on President Bush's leadership.
"Bill Clinton is a reminder of what is was like to have competent leadership," she said.
But Warfield, who helped run Bob Dole's losing campaign against Clinton in 1996, said that while Clinton may "appeal to the Democratic base and welfare recipients and ACLU members," he may not help so much with other key voting groups.
"Undecideds and independents are looking forward, and Clinton, although it may break his heart to hear it, is backward," said the GOP strategist.
