"The Clinton recovery ended today," Dole said at a campus rally here as he stumped for votes in the South. The region is generally a GOP presidential stronghold, but Dole is still struggling to bolster his standing there.
Seizing on a new government report showing that the economy slowed in the July-September quarter, the Republican challenger asserted that the U.S. economy "is barely afloat" under Clinton's stewardship.
"It doesn't take a team of economists to tell you what happens when you mix slow growth with increased taxes: That's a recipe for economic collapse," Dole said. "If this is a recovery, I can hardly wait for the recession."
Dole warned of a "Clinton recession" in the advance text of his remarks, but he did not use that phrase in his speech.
He cited a string of recent economic reports, culminating with yesterday's Commerce Department finding that growth had slowed to 2.2 percent in the July-September quarter, down from a sizzling 4.7 percent the previous quarter.
"Today, I'm afraid the truth about the Clinton economy is getting easier to see," Dole told a fieldhouse rally at Austin Peay State University. "This is a real economic slowdown."
It was a reach for Dole, whose suggestions of a fast-deteriorating economy under Clinton have been undercut by most economic statistics and challenged by some mainstream economists. Investors suggested the latest economic report lessened chances that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates to head off inflation.
Clinton, campaigning in Michigan, said the new figures show that the economy is healthier than four years ago. "Our economy continues to grow steady and strong," he said.
He also poked fun at Dole for saying the economy was in its worst state in 20 years, just two weeks after the Republican had called it the worst economy in a century.
"Not everybody can make up 80 years in two weeks," Clinton quipped.
Dole has proposed a 15 percent across-the-board tax cut, a $500 per child tax credit and halving the capital gains tax to 14 percent from 28 percent. He suggests his $550 billion, six-year economic package would spur the economy to grow at a more robust annual rate of about 3.5 percent.
The fresh attack on Clinton's economic policies came as Dole began a final week-long tour of the country, many of his destinations yet to be determined. After a last night at home in Washington before the election, Dole began the trip with a stop at the Lincoln Memorial.
He and his wife, Elizabeth, walked partway up the steps of the massive monument honoring the father of the Republican Party.
"I need(ed) a little inspiration and maybe a word or two for silent prayer," Dole explained to his Tennessee audience. Then, he declared: "We are going to win this election, Mr. Lincoln."
"We are the party of Lincoln and I'm proud of it. He never lost his focus and he did what he set out to do. ... He kept the nation together. That's what I want to do."
The week could be Dole's last campaign hurrah after seeking national office for 20 years. He unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination in 1980 and 1988, and was the party's vice presidential candidate in 1976.
As he has been doing for days, the former Senate majority leader told his Tennessee audience to ignore polls showing him trailing Clinton in nearly every region of the country.
"You are the polls, you are the polls," he told cheering supporters.
He also renewed the ethical attacks on Clinton that have become a staple of his stump speech, saying, "We cannot afford four more years of scandal and weak leadership."
After Tennessee, Dole was traveling to New Orleans and to Tampa. He was to be joined at a rally in Tampa on Thursday by former President George Bush.
Polls show Dole behind by about 10 points in Louisiana and running about even in Florida. Dole aides pointed to a Mason-Dixon poll last week that found Clinton's lead in Tennessee has shrunk from 11 points in mid-September to 5 points.
AP PHOTO
GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole waves yesterday afternoon before boarding a plane for a final campaign stretch before election day.