If you will be my voice today, I will speak for you for four years Governor Clinton

The Democrats conducted a highly effective campaign pushing aside allegations of Clinton's extra-marital affair with singer Gennifer Flowers and accusations of draft dodging during the Vietnam war.

Instead they promised to lift America out of an economic quagmire, a message that has obviously won favour.

Early results showed the Republicans were on their way out when their usual strongholds of Vermont and New Hampshire fell to their rivals. Democrats then began slicing into southern states like Georgia.

Mr Perot has not won a single state despite spending an estimated $60m of his own money on his campaign.

Clinton and his running mate Al Gore spent the last few weeks of the campaign on a whistle-stop bus tour of America.

At dawn today they were at a rally in Denver, Mr Clinton's voice hoarse from speech-making. "I have just about lost my voice," he said. "If you will be my voice today, I will speak for you for four years."

He began the campaign more than a year ago with little hope of winning against President Bush whose popularity was high on the back of the Gulf War victory.

But since then the economy has taken a serious turn for the worse and with it President Bush's standing in the eyes of US citizens.

In his victory speech at Little Rock, Arkansas, Mr Clinton thanked his wife, Hillary, who stood by him during the Flowers sex scandal.

He said the American people had voted for a "new beginning" and promised to tackle issues such as Aids, the environment and "the conversion of our economy from a defence to a domestic economic giant".

He also paid tribute to President Bush for helping to bring an end to the Cold War and a victory in the Gulf War.

It was an historic day for Congress too - the first black woman, Democrat Carol Moseley Braun, was elected to the Senate.

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