On Midterm Stump, Clinton Is Defender in Chief

[babylonsister]

On Midterm Stump, Clinton Is Defender in Chief

By JEFF ZELENY
Published: August 19, 2010


DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — The last time Bill Clinton and Barack Obama spent so many hours on the campaign trail, dashing across the country to appear before adoring crowds, they were on different sides of the Democratic argument.

So that is exactly where Mr. Clinton began when he arrived here this week.

“It’s no secret that I tried hard to defeat President Obama in the primaries — and some of you helped,” Mr. Clinton said, drawing a laugh from an audience in Palm Beach County, a place that was slow to embrace Mr. Obama two years ago.

“But I want to tell you something,” he continued, waiting for the crowd to listen. “It is my professional opinion that he has done a much better job than he has gotten credit for so far. And all elections are about the future, so what is the alternative?”

snip//

Few people may have more credibility paying a compliment to Mr. Obama than Mr. Clinton. Tense exchanges between the two men were an unforgettable element of the 2008 presidential race, which by all accounts Mr. Clinton took far longer to get over than Hillary Rodham Clinton did.

“If you’re a Democrat, you need to hold your head up,” Mr. Clinton said this week, delivering the pep talk of a coach who is disappointed with his team’s behavior. “I’m tired of reading about how we’re all belly-aching.”

snip//

“Remember our campaign slogan, ‘Yes we can’?” Mr. Obama told a fund-raising audience Wednesday evening at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach. “This year, their campaign slogan is, ‘No, we can’t.’ It’s pretty inspiring, huh? You know, you wake up in the morning and you hear ‘No!’ That just puts a little pep in your step.”

snip//

“A year and a half just wasn’t enough time to get us out of the hole we were in,” Mr. Clinton said. “So I want you to stick with us. Give us two more years — two more years until another election. If we fail, you can throw us all out.”

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/us/politics/20zeleny.html?_r=2&ref=politics

[Phx_Dem]

1. Thank you, President Clinton. Alot of Dems need to hear that.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bluestateguy]

3. The Georgetown Cocktail Party media made more out of the Clinton-Obama rift than really existed

nt

[BootinUp]

4. Thanks Big Dog. nt

[GeorgeGist]

5. Things are getting desperate ...

when they bring in the clowns.

[wyldwolf]

6. 13th highest rated President in history. 61% national approval rating.

Excellent campaign weapon.

[KingFlorez]

7. Bill Clinton is a clown?

Really? I'd hate to see who you didn't think was a clown.