Big names campaign as Election Day nears

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President Bush and former President Bill Clinton, rallying party faithful at swanky fundraisers yesterday, told Virginia voters their choice in next month's U.S. Senate election is crucial.

The Nov. 7 election is about "which party will take the steps necessary to protect the American people and win the war on terror and which party is going to keep your taxes low and keep this economy growing," Mr. Bush said while standing beside Republican Sen. George Allen and his wife, Susan, at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond.

"We just have a different point of view, a different look at the world," Mr. Bush said of Democrats and Republicans.

Mr. Clinton, who endorsed Democrat James H. Webb Jr. in the Senate race, agreed the two parties have clear opposing philosophies.

"We've got a chance to win a victory for America," Mr. Clinton said, casting the upcoming election as a historic opportunity for Democrats.

Before hosting a private fundraiser in McLean for Mr. Webb last night, Mr. Clinton appeared in Maryland where he stumped for Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, the Democratic candidate for governor.

The Republicans have been taken over, Mr. Clinton said at Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park in Baltimore, "by the most ideological, most extreme wing" of the party, prompting some conservatives to switch parties.

"We represent, now, both strains" of American politics, said Mr. Clinton, who later appeared at a fundraiser for Mr. O'Malley in Potomac. Mr. Clinton was expected to raise $500,000 for Mr. O'Malley.

At a brief stop in Arlington last night, Mr. Clinton told reporters that he admired Mr. Webb's courage for running against Mr. Allen.

"I wanted to express my public support [for Mr. Webb] for some time," Mr. Clinton said of the former Republican who several years ago called Mr. Clinton's presidency "the most corrupt administration in modern memory." Both men mended their relationship after September 11, 2001.