President Clinton gave his wife his heartiest endorsement yet in her attempt for a Senate seat in New York as they both raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for her campaign.
As they flew from Martha's Vineyard to the round of fundraisers in wealthy enclaves in the Hamptons on Long Island, the Clintons took time to inspect a $1.7 million Georgian colonial-style house nearer New York city.
Mrs Clinton, who will have to establish a residence in New York state before the election next year, has been house-hunting over the past few months.
In the first of three fundraisers on Saturday where guests paid $1,000 each to eat barbecued ribs and listen to the Clintons, the President told them that "If you want somebody . . . who has more heart, more intelligence, more ability and more commitment than any person I have ever known . . . then you ought to send her to the Senate and give her a chance to serve."
The contributors, who were also entertained by the singers Phoebe Snow and Wyclef Jean, were told by Mrs Clinton that "Like most of you, I have always been somebody who supported other people and now I am stepping forward and asking you for support and for your help, and that's because I really think it matters who serves in the US Senate".
"I like the progress that we have made in our country in the past six and a half years and I want to be part of continuing that," Mrs Clinton said. She pointed out that the country would have to deal with an ageing population, education, health care and the environment. The president urged supporters to make sure the country kept moving in the direction he had tried to lead it. "I'm not running for anything," he said to laughter from his audience.
The Clintons went out of their way to show affection for each other by prolonged hugging as they left Martha's Vineyard and when they arrived at the fundraiser. The President said they had walked on the beach together on Friday morning and chatted about the future. "I said `I hope you are not tired of this after all these years' and she said . . . `You may be a lot of things but you are not boring'."
The contributors laughed at the indirect reference to the events of the past year when he became the first president to be impeached for over 100 years.
Yesterday the Clintons, who are staying with film director Steven Spielberg, attended a $5,000 per head lunch for 80 people.
The first $1,000 from every ticket will go to support Mrs Clinton's Senate campaign and the rest to Democratic committees.