These two men did not always get along. Let's remember, after all, that Hillary Clinton, Bill's wife, ran against Barack Obama in 2008, only to lose, eventually, in a tight race. We all know what happened after that, right?
Well, it's four years later, and despite some evident tensions between the two men, they still nonetheless both are Democratic Presidents. Clinton was a two-term President for the Democrats during the relatively good and prosperous days of the nineties, while Obama swept into office four years ago riding a wave of popularity as the embodiment of "hope" and "change", which became the words most closely associated with his campaign, and which his detractors have since used to mock him.
Obama has had his problems, particularly as his image and popularity have taken a hit. The rift with President Clinton was not helping, either. There was even a news story that started making waves earlier this week about an allegedly racist remark that Bill Clinton made in 2008. Allegedly, in reference to Obama, he told Ted Kennedy:
"A few years ago, this guy would have been carrying our bags."
You might hear about this in the near future. If this is true, it might really damage Clinton's reputation. But then again, he was known as the Teflon President, since all manner of controversies seemed to slide off of him with little to no damage. This would not even be the first time that he was accused of racism. I remember back in 1992, that his Democratic rival, and present day governor of California, Jerry Brown, had a commercial running that claimed that Clinton had had a membership in a whites only golf course, and ended the commercial by saying that was "slick", but we should seek real change.
It likely will not stick with him, and it is hard to imagine that such a story would actually hurt President Obama. What has hurt Obama are accusations leveled at him by his numerous detractors, and particularly by Republicans. One theme that Republicans have continually repeated, since it seems to resonate with many Americans, is that this President cannot claim that the average American is better off now than four years ago. That has not been the only criticism, of course. But it is one that Romney & Co. continually fall back on and try to pound as their message. Paul Ryan even mentioned it specifically in his speech, that the people are not better off. Obama and his team are trying to answer by saying that the country is, in fact, better off, and have begun to piece together their list of accomplishments in order to show evidence that the country is, in fact, true. How this plays out in the end, we shall see. But one thing that is undeniable, is that this has been a tough election year for Obama.
But he is the President still, and Clinton, who I heard earlier this evening on the tube now enjoys a rather amazing 69% approval rating, gave an impassioned speech tonight in support of four more years for Obama as President.
Clinton has been a pretty cool post-President. He was, at times, quite critical of the Bush Administration that followed him. He started his own organization, the Clinton Foundation, which has some similarities with the Carter Center. He has been active in trying to improve lives as he sees fit since, and has continued to be involved in the political spectrum, giving speeches in every Democratic National Convention since 1988 (with each of them since 1996 speaking in support of a candidate to take the office of the Presidency. He also helped his wife out quite a bit in 2008, obviously.
Tonight, he gave another speech, and a strong one at that. Already, this speech is being hailed as a huge success, and if that is the case, it could provide Obama with a positive bounce in the polls. Right now, he is deadlocked with Romney, although he still has to give his speech, and there are also the three debates that are scheduled. A lot can happen. But I don't think that there is any doubt that this speech by Clinton helped matters for the President's reelection campaign.
He focused on the Republicans, and many of the claims that they made in their own convention in Tampa last week, claiming that their entire argument, essentially, boiled down to saying, in effect, that Republicans "left him a total mess, he hasn't cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in."
Clinton's strength is in his ability to make a very strong speech. He is very charismatic and intelligent, yet remains accessible. It can be said that he is a soft-spoken attack dog, punching far heavier than his soto voce voice might initially suggest. He has a remarkable ability to take very complicated subject matter, and boil it down and present it in such a way that the average person can understand. Also, he usually displays a generous amount of wit and charm during his speeches, and he did not disappoint tonight. This was exactly what Obama needed, at precisely the moment when he needed it. Here was one of my favorite quotes from the speech:
"We cannot afford to give the reins of government to someone who will double-down on trickle-down."
What a soundbite! This man really knows how to manipulate politics to make it work for him, doesn't he?
He mixed the positive messages, promoting the Presidency of Obama, with some countering of Republican attacks, at one point zeroing in on Paul Ryan specifically, suggesting that Ryan's claims that Obama would reduce Medicare by $716 billion. Clinton responded by saying that when Ryan looked into the camera and claimed that Obama had raided Medicare by this figure, Clinton did not know "whether to laugh or cry. You see, that 716 billion dollars is exactly the same amount of Medicare savings Congressman Ryan had in his own budget."
He later went on to say "it takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did.", to thunderous applause.
The Republicans had clearly wanted to make this election about Obama's performance over the last four years, and so they did what they could, and said much, to try and taint the Presidency, and make it look like a failure. They clearly have been working towards trying to defeat Obama for a very long time now, and In this speech, Clinton not only took swipes at this Republican approach, but did so by cleverly using the trademark words of another former President, one who not only was a Republican, but has become the archetype that Republicans tend to idolize and want to follow the example of, Ronald Reagan:
"As another President once said - there they go again."
With a sweeping statement, he addressed both the frustrations of Democrats and Obama supporters who grew tired of Obama trying to compromise with a Republican Congress, and the actual approach of that Republican-led Congress, by rejecting the Republican approach as highly irresponsible:
"He also tried to work with Congressional Republicans on Health Care, debt reductions, and jobs, but that didn't work out so well. Probably because, as the Senate Republican leader, in a remarkable moment of candor, said two years before the election, their number one priority was not to put Americans back to work, but to put President Obama out of work."
He dismissed Romney's fiscal plan in very simple terms, claiming that it failed "the first test of fiscal responsibility: The numbers don't add up."
Explaining the rather slow pace of recovery, he again came to Obama's defense. "No President - not me or any of my predecessors could have repaired all the damage in just four years. But conditions are improving and if you'll renew the President's contract you will feel it."
Summarizing what he thinks is the main difference between the Republican Party's approach in contrast to the Democratic Party, he said, "We think "we're all in this together" is a better philosophy than "you're on your own.""
Clinton essentially suggested that there are clear choices, and that the more hopeful one is he choice to keep Obama as President, in effect. He acknowledged that the country is not where it would want to be at this point, that recovery has been slow. But he assured Americans that they would begin to feel the difference, that things would improve noticeably. Faith in the President, and another term, is required, first.
It was a great speech. Here, I will admit to having been disappointed by Clinton during his presidency. 1992 was the first Presidential elections that I ever participated in, and yes, I did vote for him. His acceptance speech went a long way towards my viewing him as more promising than the slick politician that I viewed him as to that point. He did not do as much as I hoped for him, yet after his speech at the convention in 1996, my faith was restored quite a bit, and I voted for him again.
I was not thrilled with his Presidency, truth be told. Yet, I have to admit, there is something about his speeches that I tend to enjoy, even quite a bit. He conducts himself with class during these speeches, and these tend to be moments when he is at his best. I don't believe in either major party, and have not voted for a major party candidate for President since Clinton. I am not sure that this speech was convincing enough for me to vote for Obama, but I will say that it was a very strong speech, and is likely to help Obama's reelection bid, perhaps even strongly.
There is even an article (look for the link below), where a Republican strategist essentially boiled it down, saying that this speech was most likely what got Obama reelected. I don't know about that just yet, because there is still a lot of time left, and things do happen. But that said, I think it's safe to say that President Obama is glad to have Clinton on his side, and I also think that the possible ramifications of this speech cannot be understated. I knew Clinton was great at making speeches, but he just might have overdone himself this time. He really is like a soft-spoken attack dog!
Below is a link to the full text of the speech, and I'm sure that you can find not just clips, but most likely the whole speech, if you go on Youtube (although i did not specifically check, so don't hold me to that).
http://news.yahoo.com/bill-clintons-speech-prepared-full-text-democratic-national-225321885--politics.html
Here's the article on the Republican strategist who felt that this speech probably reelected Obama:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/alex-castellanos-obama-clinton_n_1859947.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=295175,b=facebook
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