Clinton Begins New Year With Arkansas Break
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On the brink of the Republican takeover of Congress, President Clinton flew home Monday for a brief respite with family and friends before jumping into the political fray ahead.
Clinton, who will face a GOP-controlled House and Senate after he returns to Washington on Wednesday, clearly relished the notion of a relaxed start to the new year.
“We’re looking forward to just spending some personal time visiting with our friends, saying hello to people, driving around the state a little bit,” he told a crowd of supporters at the airport after stepping off Air Force One.
“And I’m even going to have a few hours where I have nothing on the schedule, for the first time in years and years, to go off. . . “ he said.
The crowd never heard Clinton’s precise plans because the microphone suddenly went dead.
“So what,” Clinton said with an aw-shucks wave of the hand. “I didn’t want to give a speech anyway.”
Instead, he spent several minutes shaking hands and chatting with residents of the state he governed for 12 years.
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