Life without Bill looking a tad chilly for Jenny

By Andrew Stone

CHRISTCHURCH - The William Jefferson Clinton charm offensive wrapped up here last night, leaving Jenny Shipley no doubt wishing the presidential aura would cling to her a little longer.

As Air Force One roared into the Canterbury skies, the Prime Minister was left to contemplate life after Clinton and the chillier climate of domestic politics.

The Washington roadshow packed up with its star turn already focused on the threat of Hurricane Floyd to the President's homeland.

Mrs Shipley has only this morning's farewell to the uncharismatic Chinese leader Jiang Zemin as the last act in a heady week of stratospheric power politics.

Last night Mr Clinton made one last toast before his rapid exit, leaving behind a city seemingly besotted with American might and power and a Prime Minister glowing from White House praise.

The backslapping was mutual: Mr Clinton acclaimed Mrs Shipley's Apec leadership while she declared: "Your own warmth has won the hearts of most New Zealanders."

Nowhere was the Clinton appeal better illustrated than at the International Antarctic Centre, from where the President rang Americans working on the ice.

The formula was simple: assemble the numbers - in this case 5000 - and work the crowd, unwitting participants in a carefully scripted media show weeks in the planning and minutes in the execution.

It worked in Queenstown the night before, where hundreds waited for three hours outside a lakeshore restaurant for a presidential glimpse. It came off again in Christchurch, even though the morning was grey and cold. Scores of people turned away from the ticket-only speech lined airport routes on motorcade watch.

Mr Clinton treated the shivering audience to a glimpse of his political mastery, and White House speech writing, even working TV3's weatherman into an address on climate change and fossil fuel.

Sounding a note of caution over melting Antarctic ice sheets, the President remarked that if sea levels rose by 20ft, "not even Augie Auer will be able to save us from the weather."

Mr Clinton shared the stage with Mrs Shipley and mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary.

After Sir Edmund recalled his epic 1958 trek across Antarctica, Mr Clinton told how thrilled he was to share the stage with the adventurer, "referred to in our family as my second-favourite Hillary."

The President suggested that, at 80, Sir Edmund might be good for a further challenge: "I hear the All Blacks may need a new fullback."

Tracing the friendship between New Zealand and the US, Mr Clinton said: "We even let you borrow the America's Cup from time to time. We hope to reverse our generosity shortly."

With Mrs Shipley a few paces behind, Mr Clinton plunged into the crowd, pumping the flesh with both hands.

Not to be outdone, the Prime Minister seized the moment, working the crowd hard in the wake of one class political act.