In many ways, Governor Clinton and his lieutenants are still reeling from weeks of good news, good polls and the soaring potential of a campaign that, only a few weeks ago, was happy to make it through seven consecutive days without a disaster.
Now, as the planning for a vigorous general-election campaign against President Bush begins in earnest, the Democrats are busily remapping their strategy for a two-way race by going on the attack before the Republicans can do it first at their convention.
When Mr. Clinton landed on the West Coast today, he hoped to spread his dramatic campaign comeback to another region of the country.
Speaking to a crowd of thousands in this city's Riverfront Park, Mr. Clinton pointedly used the word "change" more than a dozen times, attempting to sell the Democratic ticket as the solution to the nation's doldrums.
"I don't care what the polls say today," he said. "It will require more courage for you to vote for Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Because it always is difficult to change. We represent hope, not fear. We represent the promise of a better tomorrow, but we have to change."
Last week, in combination with his Vice-Presidential nominee, Senator Al Gore of Tennessee, Mr. Clinton reaped more than his share of success from their eight-state bus tour. The Governor was trailed all over the country by Republicans sounding Mr. Bush's themes -- from the party chairman, Richard N. Bond, to Vice President Dan Quayle -- but they made only halfhearted efforts to pierce the Democrats' new bubble. Democrats Afraid to Relax
"I'd much rather have my problems than theirs," said Paul Begala, one of Mr. Clinton's advisers.
But even as they chortled at the Republican parade, some Democrats admitted that they were still a little nervous at the beauty of it all.
"On the Wednesday night of the convention, I looked at all that silver confetti falling, and I thought, 'What the hell do we do tomorrow?' " said Ronald H. Brown, the chairman of the Democratic Party. "The balloons could be a big disappointment."
Similarly, campaign strategists are bracing for an end to poll numbers that show Mr. Clinton 20 to 30 percentage points ahead of Mr. Bush.
"If you watch Ross Perot or Michael Dukakis in 1988 or George Bush at the end of 1991, you see a lead that develops quickly can disappear quickly," said Dee Dee Myers, the campaign's press secretary. "You shouldn't go to the track and bet on these leads."
James Carville, an adviser who is putting together the campaign's attack-and-response team, has called the numbers a "souffle" that could easily fall. Others have been quick to follow his lead.
"Sure, it's soft," said Paul Tully, the political director for the Democratic National Committee. "People are just arriving. You can't go home and take a vacation and put it in the bank. You have to harden it up step by step."
Mr. Tully and others have been arguing that the Democrats will be able to break what has been a Republican lock on Electoral College votes by exploiting the advantages they gain by presenting themselves as the party of change at a time when many voters are unhappy with the economy and anything that resembles the status quo.
Pay attention. Move behind ideas, not personalities. The forces of status quo like nothing better than recent history repeating itself.