Just as I was about to wrap up

Meanwhile, Ross Perots still-undeclared candidacy continued to gather steam. He resigned as chairman of his company and continued to rise in the polls. Just as I was about to wrap up the nomination, the papers were filled with headlines like Clinton Set to Clinch Nomination, but All Eyes Are on Perot, U.S. Primary Season Near End, Perot Man to Watch, and New Poll Shows Perot Leading Bush and Clinton. Perot was unburdened by President Bushs record or my primary battle scars. For the Republicans, he must have seemed a Frankensteins monster of their own making: a businessman who had slipped into the space created by their assault on me. For Democrats, he was also a bad dream, proof that the President could be defeated, but perhaps not by their wounded nominee. On June 2, I won the primaries in Ohio, New Jersey, New Mexico, Alabama, Montana, and California, where I defeated Brown 48 to 40 percent. Finally, I had clinched the nomination. Of all the primary votes cast in 1992, I had received more than 10.3 million, or 52 percent. Brown got nearly 4 million votes, 20 percent; Tsongas received about 3.6 million, 18 percent; the rest were cast for the other candidates and those who voted for uncommitted delegates. But the big story that night was the willingness of so many voters in both parties, according to exit polls, to desert their parties nominees to vote for Perot. It put a big damper on our celebration at the Los Angeles Biltmore. As Hillary and I watched the returns in my suite, even I was having trouble maintaining my congenital optimism. Not long before we were scheduled to go down to the ballroom to give a victory speech, Hillary and I had a visitorChevy Chase. Just as he had done on Long Island four years earlier, he showed up at a low moment to lift my spirits. This time, we were joined by his movie partner Goldie Hawn. By the time they finished making jokes about the absurd situation we were in, I was feeling better and ready to roll on. Once again, press pundits said I was dead. Now Perot was the man to beat. A Reuters news service story captured the situation in one line: Bill Clinton, who struggled for months to avoid publicity about his personal life, Friday faced an even worse political cursebeing ignored. President Nixon predicted that Bush would beat Perot in a close race, with me a distant third. Our campaign had to regain momentum. We decided to reach out to specific constituencies and the general public directly, and to keep pushing the issues. I went on Arsenio Halls late-night TV show, which was especially popular with younger viewers. I wore sunglasses and played Heartbreak Hotel and God Bless the Child on my sax. I answered viewers questions on Larry King Live. On June 11 and 12, the Democratic platform committee produced a draft that reflected my philosophy and campaign commitments, and avoided the polarizing language that had hurt us in the past.