Months ago, Mitt Romney and his campaign team adopted a curious strategy. Hoping to undermine President Obama, Republicans would elevate former President Clinton, giving him unrivaled credibility and stature, as a way of positioning him as the good Democrat, as compared to that rascally Obama.
As was clear last night in Charlotte, Romney's plan was a spectacularly bad idea.
I suspect the only person in the arena who didn't enjoy the Big Dog's tour de force was the one trying to operate the teleprompter -- Clinton had a prepared text, but he largely ignored it. The speech was nearly twice as long as it was intended to be, and long portions of it were entirely extemporaneous, which only made it more impressive.
What made Clinton's speech so exceptional? First, for all the assumptions that the public will not tolerate and has no appetite for substance, Clinton proved the cynics wrong -- his remarks were incredibly policy focused, not only in heralding Obama's underappreciated achievements, but also in taking the GOP vision apart, one issue at a time. The former president is in a league of his own when it comes to making wonky details accessible and easy to understand.
Whereas Republicans treated voters like children last week, building whole days around out-of-context quotes and shallow platitudes, Clinton spoke to Americans like adults, respecting us enough to assume we'd understand. It was a triumph for facts and reason.
Second, after a week in which the chatter has been over how to respond to (and whether to ask) the are-you-better-off-than-you-were-four-years-ago question, Clinton seemed to put the matter to rest entirely, delivering a forceful response that made the answer obvious.
In the same breath, he summarized the entire Republican message in a devastating soundbite: "We left him a total mess. He hasn't cleaned it up fast enough. So fire him and put us back in."
Third, I was struck by Clinton's ability to excite the Democratic base with a bipartisan message. He reminded the audience about the virtues of "compromise," about Obama's commitment to "constructive cooperation," and even had the convention goers cheering one of George W. Bush's more admirable successes (PEPFAR). Indeed, Clinton had more positive things to say about Bush than Republicans did.
It created a contrast with the Tampa convention that reinforced the notion that the parties are in competing, alternate universes -- one where the parties can and should work together to advance the nation's common interests, and another where compromise must be avoided at all costs. The floor in Charlotte cheered the very idea of "constructive cooperation" -- would GOP delegates have done the same?
For independent voters who say they're desperate to see more policymaking and less partisan gridlock, the message wasn't exactly subtle: Democrats agree with you.
As became obvious as Clinton's speech soared, there is no one in the Republican Party who can compete at this level, and it's only going to get worse for the challengers -- Clinton dazzled last night, but Americans will also see him in campaign ads and on the campaign trail. Bush and Cheney are hiding, but the Obama campaign will deliberately keep Clinton in the spotlight.
Team Romney helped build up Clinton's credibility. Now they're paying the price.
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Romney tries to do a lot of boasting but he cannot. Romney doesn’t really have anything to be proud about, when his whole goal has been to how fast he can screw over people. Romney so much like a robot can barely get himself to walk out onto the stage, he knows the people know what he really is. All Romney can do is be envious of someone like President Obama, since President Obama does know what it is to live as a normal person. As Romney has lived a fancy illusion thinking he was so great and wonderful. But really Romney is a blind individual lost in his mind of lies. Romney even in his desperate mind thought he could even get help from Clinton.
Agreed. And he is especially not proud of his tax returns or he would be parading them
He's proud that he was smart enough to have a millionaire father. Take that, stupid poor people!
What's sad is he does have things he could be proud about -- but he denies them like they're a red-headed stepchild.
SELF MADE millionaire father. And he gave his inheritance away. His millions are his own
No. Mitt's millions were bled from the the workers in the factories and businesses that Bain closed. Not only did Mitt not build any infrastructure to help those businesses; he tore down those businesses that others built long before he came around.
Romney is the GOP setting up, yet again, their kind of presidencey: The Cardboard Cutout President. Like Reagan and Dubya (and even George Sr.) they offer us presidents who are merely PR spokesmen and fundraisers while someone never elected runs the country... from an undisclosed location. Of course most Americans don't actually fall for it. Dubya never really won. They have to cheat, suppress the vote, muddy the results to win. They're trying to do it again this year.
GOP government... unelected and undisclosed.
Infrastructure is not business. Government workers get paid with public money, provided by private citizens. Government does not create wealth. The myth of infrastructure strengthening economies is ludicrous
In fact the way he paid himself through college, paid for his first home, and paid for his Master's was by selling off his stock and borrowing money from his parents. He also had the benefit of years of privileged upbringing that gave him an advantage in life. Mitt Romney didn't make himself wealthy on his own.
Put more adjectives in there!: The fantasy of the myth of the unrealistic goal of infrastructure strengthening economies is ludicrously ridiculous!!!!
Government workers get paid with legal tender, the same tender that private workers get paid with. Government workers like all workers who make a wage high enough pay the federal government income taxes which then turn around and pay salary. Those workers also spend money at local stores which generates revenues. That's the way it works. You are correct though infrastructure isn't a business (which is why no companies exist in plumbing, water and sewage treatment, highway repair and construction, building construction, energy production, etc.) it's a platform from which businesses thrive. We learned after the Great Depression that when we put money into ourselves that spending ended up producing trillions of dollars worth of income later on. I don't know why people assume it would be different this time.
Totally. That's why government doesn't negotiate treaties that establish trade and the value of the dollar, doesn't print money, and doesn't establish the value of our currency both international and nationally.
Try moving your goods to market without the infrastructure of the roads and rails. The construction jobs created by improving the infrastructure is what supplies the customers for your goods. But I'm as sure as I'm sitting here that you only believe that giving money to the top will strengthen the economy, the top that has to trickle it down for that to work but only wants to keep it for themselves.
Businesses can't be sucessful without good working infrastructure. It does strengthen our economy. Infrastructure is built by the gov w/ tax dollars because it benefits everyone and needs to be accessible to everyone. How well does everything work and how much money do businesses lose when infrastructure is broken by a natural disaster? It doesn't work and they lose alot!
You're right, government workers can't get rich on their government paychecks. They're not supposed to. But if getting rich was their only goal, then they wouldn't have served their country by taking a government job. Most middle class people think government jobs are good jobs and are proud of them. Everyone benefits when we have a strong midde class.
And exactley how are companies supposed to conduct business when the roads and nbridges are falling apart and unusable. Yes infrastructure does not itself produce money, its job is to facilitate the making of money. With out a strong and well maintained infrastucure there is now way to get products to markets, supplies to producers and people to stores.
It is your comment that is ludicrous, Sunshine. The infrastructure provided by The Public, is essential to private business. They cannot move their products to market without roads, they cannot run their production machinery without the electrical grid that The Public built and GAVE to the private utilities, the list of things provided by The Public through its government, without which private businesses could not thrive or even exist on their current scale is virtually endless. It is an assinine article of the "conservative" extremist faith that government government has NO part in wealth creation, but even a cursory glance at countries that have no functioning government or with highly corrupt governments shows that private business cannot thrive there. Business can exist only if it is VERY small and VERY local.
The myth of infrastructure strengthening economies is ludicrous
Which is of course why it is that the national highway system had no impact on business or the economy whatsoever. Jesus are you ever stupid.
The sunshine obviously got to what's left of what passes for your brain, an organ for which you need a crutch. You do win the prize though for Most
Willfully Ignorant Post By A Wingnut Moron Here Today.
Yes - Romney can only run on a leap of faith. He can't campaign on his record as governor. Of course, why anyone would waste their vote on someone who is a chronic liar is beyond me. What would you expect, exactly? Add the flip flops...
Obviously sunshinestater does not know what infrastructure is: it's all of the things that facilitates business. To put it in human terms so that even you can understand it, infrastructure is like bones, muscles, tendons, etc. that hold the body together; even more, it is the composition of the body. And infrastructure is business. That why politicians speak of the business of government. So, let's not get stupid here. Enough of this dumbing down. As for the Mittster, he was born with a silver spoon up his a$$!
The Government puts out bid requests to businesses to build the Infrastructure that Sunshine Stater doesn't seem to think is important. Without the building and maintenance of infrastructure, lots of businesses would be out of business.
Sunshine, spoken like a true First Worlder. YOU try doing business in a place without proper infrastructure: no road, no proper buildings, no bridges. How about I take down a notch. Some roads. Some buildings. Some bridges.
Do you know how that feels?
I do. I came from a third world country. I'll tell you how to be successful in business in a place like that. The only people who can do business in a place with little to no infrastructure are corrupt mayors and crime lords. They alone will have the money to buy trucks that can run over dirt roads, transporting goods. The only buildings in the are are thug-owned. Bridges will be built from wood, and only good for people, and maybe some livestock to cross. Forget about cars. It'll give way under the weight.
My cousin tried to put up a bakery in a place like that. People will travel hours on foot, get to the bakery, realize they don't have enough money to pay for the bread or baking materials. They take a bakery credit and never show up again to pay. My cousin goes to their homes to collect and they RUN out the back through holes in their houses, then over the pig pens and chicken coops of their neighbors. Just so you know, that's how it is when there's no infrastructure.
I worked for the state of NY for 33 years. During that time, the university expanded, renovated, removed asbestos, built parking lots and new roads, and, and doubled the number of dormitory rooms. Do you really think the minimal maintenance staff accomplished these achievements on their own? I'll help you; the answer is "no". All areas undergoing construction were contracted out with private sector businesses. Think bigger!
Supposedly infrastructure jobs were not shovel ready, yet as I drive through various states, there is construction, construction, and more construction.
Pubs like to spout about how many government jobs have been lost during the Obama adm. As the pubs cut spending, many more government jobs will be lost. They also fail to mention that it was they, who laid off 600,000 state workers, adding .2% to the unemployed.
Americans want a return to the kind of shared prosperity that Bill Clinton brought as president. The GOP plan is the exact opposite of the pro-growth policies that Bill Clinton used to create our 90's economic boom. Romney has told voters very little of what he will do as president, but it includes more tax cuts for the rich, more spending cuts, more burden on the working people of America. There is no honest way that anyone could conceivably describe Mitt's plan as an homage to Clinton. Romney/Ryan is about rewarding the rich and stiffing the middle class. Clinton and Obama know that the economy only grows when we all have a chance to succeed. This was a pitch-perfect speech. - principled progressive
Once the fervor over P. Ryan has subsided, the GOP will be back where they were.
The difference between Obama and Clinton is that Obama assumes that everyone is aware of the intricacies that it takes to put plans in action. Clinton knows that they are not.
Jeebus, Benen is like the drunk guy at convention, tossing dollar bills to the pole dancer. Yikes.
You would know. Just kidding, your comments seem inapproriate though and misplaced. I know it's hard but Republicans should at least pretend to keep up with the rest of us.
But dude, chick can shake it!
And dems are more likely to start with $5's. We ain't cheap.
So Pooper, how was it at the strip clubs in Tampa?
It must have been a bad night for Blanks. Has nothing to say so he insults Benen.
Can't....think....of.....why....this....is...wrong....must....do...something....
BENEN IS A POOPY HEAD!
Lmao getting a little desperate there in our red herrings aren't we Shooter?
Lets see we have Sunshine Stater , Irish pat , Shooter are they one in the same or .....the axis of trolldom .
Who's next , step right up we have openings for quality trolls .
We have of late been very dissatisfied with the quality of the troll submissions . Regurgitated
RepublicanFaux News talking points.Better trolls please.
Hilarious. Say something... anything. Put a stick in the spokes. Put a rock on the tracks!! That will derail this thing. It's going too fast. The dirty libs sound too good. They're making too much sense. They're really excited about their guys and our guys suck. And that sucks. It's so much harder to be a smug sounding smart ass when everyone can see there's no justification for any of it.
But keep yakking. Be like Reince. Just throw crap out there now and then to feel better about being one of the band of fools. The next pithy observation may just be the one that turns the tide in FUBARRomney's favor. He's depending on you. Cause he sure ain't got sh!t to offer on his own.
Don't feed the trolls; it just makes them come back for more.
Romney tells us that he is a nuts and bolts, number crunching, results oriented businessman.
But what his party gave us in Tampa was spun cotton candy atop a whipped cream coated hot air balloon. A soufflé, concocted out of hoary platitudes and focus group lies.
Last night The Big Dog stamped his foot and that soufflé collapsed into a puddle of undercooked goo.
And America saw it happen!
Excellent!
That was awesome. And I'm hungry.
Imagine if you were a republican, largenose, and all you had to eat from your party was hot air.
ditto what largenose said! LOL
Clinton showed the american people the one thing romney will never be able to. STATESMANSHIP!
As Bill said "it's arithmetic"! The GOP numbers just don't add up correctly unless you consider negative numbers a good thing.
Great analogy!
If you were any dumber, you'd need a crutch for your brain.
The above meant for a different thread
Clinton's speech shows the world what a pitiful circus the RNC was running. And the drunk BONER and pitiful Clint were disgraceful. This DNC has been wonderful with all the facts and real numbers and real ideas for America. From the opening night's speeches through Clinton's speech last night. FACTS , policy, showcasing our military for their honorable achievements through the years, leaders, and business all on display for the world to see. rnc and robme couldn't hold a candle to this convention. Let's talk FACTS not LIES and distortions.
I don't think any amount of words can describe how great a speech that was last night.He managed to express his thoughts and to explain to the American people exactly what the hell is going on. In our fast paced society too many people are accustomed to wanting it all now and expecting it at a records' pace. I know it bothers me when songs that I used to love and enjoy are now considered classics. Everyone needs to take a deep breath and slow down. Enjoy your life and your family now, you're gonna miss this. Slow down we're moving too fast, you've got to make the morning last. Good things come to those who can wait, and that includes heaven. What needs to be exposed now, are those people who would like for us to return to Hell, so that they can selfishly reep all the benefits.That was never the plan.
The only problem with the speech was the competition from football game that likely absorbed the blue collar voters Obama needs to reach.
Yes, but thank god for You Tube and other media where they can hear most of the speech. I am sure some will tune in today because they want to hear what they missed.
shows the importance of hearing a speech instead of misquoted sound bites in negative ads.
For democracy to work, we need an informed electorate. A Free Press is vital.
BUT Citizens United is a travesty allowing the rich to buy influence and votes.
Bill Clinton is the best politician of this, or most any, generation. Even with his personal failings, most americans would gladly elect him president-for-life.
Although Republicans despised him when he was president, they were still willing to work with him and compromise on key issues. Sadly, the same is not true of the current crop of Teabaggers.
They do us all a disservice.
Shooter...is that flop sweat I smell?
"We left him a total mess. He hasn't cleaned it up fast enough. So fire him and put us back in."
Wow.
I hope this assertion is correct. Unfortunately, I think when the TV ratings come in we will find out otherwise (NFL?). While the diehards have a great appetite for substance, the vast majority want only a good soundbite.
As it has been said, "no one does Clinton like Clinton," and he did a tremendous job.
To that extent I think the Republicans were smarter in the timing of their convention. Credit where credit is due ;-)
That's OK. There are enough great sound bites in there to make a feast of Obama ads for those low-information swing state voters. Nobody makes things as clear and understandable as does Clinton.
There were two big benefits to his speech: revving up the base and providing a foundation for Clinton's further campaigning to the working class white voters with whom he communicates so well.
"Here comes honey boo boo" out-rated the rnc 3 to 1... so... yeah.
dahlia, on that comparison then the NFL out rated the dnc 20 to 1...
And Mitt Romney?
The no convention/no VP bump hoser is hiding out in a mansion for the rest of the week. His attack puppies are quiet, and the chatter from their convention was nothing more than a whisper in a church.
What's that tell you?
Don't celebrate yet. There is a lot of work ahead. The GOP and their 1% donors are gearing up for the most negative and expensive campaign in history. They are a wounded animal fighting to survive.
We have got to get the vote out and reelect President Obama along with the support in Congress to take real action and help this great country live up to its legacy as the greatest achiever of innovation and exploration and inclusion in the world.
True, and we need to keep aware of their cheating too, espeically at the voting booths by these self-appointed voter vigilantes.
I am going to sign up as a poll watcher. I suggest all of you do the same. We will not let intimidation or thugs steal this election. Call your county registrar to find out how to qualify as a poll watcher. It is the least we can do to prevent these thugs from trying to steal this election with voter suppression, lies, distortion ads and yes trying to intimidate people from voting. Just let someone try to intimidate at my poll! OBAMA/BIDEN 2012
Shorter Big Dawg to Romney: You best be stayin' on the porch.
Best line of the night, "We can't double-down on trickle-down". Although, when you think about it...we tried trickle-down under Reagan. Bush 43 doubled-down on it last decade. In both cases the nation came out on the losing end with a recession. With Romney, it would be triple-down on trickle-down.
Even if Clinton's speech didn't make it out to every viewer, if his message is pushed in bites by every commercial, every debate from now to the election, it will get noticed.
Nobody does it better!
I hope Clinton's speech gets distributed to every last surrogate. Study it and know it. They need to be able express these points clearly and concisely. Get it out quicker than a Republican can say "Democrat Party"
I wish we could have heard and memorized these points in an organized way months ago, I've been waiting for something so clear and succinct
Reading this reminded me that Clinton's speech could have been ripped directly from the annals of Steve Benen's work from both here and when he was at The Washington Monthly. Many of these key points have been known to Steve's readers for quite some time. To see them delivered so eloquently on a national level should be a thing of pride for journalists whom share the caliber and integrity of Steve. Thank you!
Looking forward I think it is crucial to identify how many voters truly may be swayed at this point, either from undecided to decided or from apathetic to motivated. We know that there is a large portion of the population that will never, ever vote for a Democrat, no matter what. While this is unfortunate, it is also reality. The key will be getting the independent vote, and the views and arguments dictated so well by Clinton will surely help. Voter suppression and apathy are the really scary variables.
The recent polls of voters who are either unlikely to vote or are not going to vote (why in the world does this demographic even exist!?!) is decidedly pro-Obama.
"Reading this reminded me that Clinton's speech could have been ripped directly from the annals of Steve Benen's work from both here and when he was at The Washington Monthly."
I second that emotion! In my book, Benen is the "Big Dawg" of punditry!
If ever there was a valid argument against the Presidential term limit, it is Bill Clinton.
God, yes. I can't tell you how many times I wished he were running again as I was watching that speech.
I can't tell you how many times I have wished and prayed for No More Clintons & No More Bushes!
The argument for term limits was FDR and the New Deal juggernaut continuing through with Truman. We had always had a tradition of two terms since Washington. We could as easily have wound up going banana republic through the Democratic Party as the Republican. Remember, one of the main themes of our success has been an honest opposition that takes the reins once in a while to steer us down the middle path.
Democrats = arithmatic
Republicans = fuzzy math
I was skeptical of Bubba, but he delivered.
Reagan started with a lousier economy than Obama. And this bad economy was created by the same democrats who are now blaming Bush. Fascinating idiocy. Also fascinating that all of these speeches are about people who worked theor ways up, against the odds stating that it's impossible to work yourself up against the odds. So I guess Julian Castro was just smarter and harder working than the rest of us poor slobs. He could do it without Obama but we can't. Again, fascinating. And the fact that BILL CLINTON is hailed as a hero by people whom, for two days, have been screeching about a (supposed) war on women--he and Ted Kennedy were the Hiroshima and Nagasaki of the war on women. Did I mention how fascinating this whole thing is? But hey, Obama's cool. And he can shoot the 3. Never mind.
...in the fantasy retelling of the Reagan years blathered out by modern Republicans with no knowledge or concern about economic history, the Reagan tax cuts passed in 1981, and the economy transformed into paradise. Butthat story is fiction. Instead, the tax cuts of 1981 went through – with carnival barkers like Arthur Laffer proclaiming that economic growth would rush in before the ink on the law was dry – and then precisely nothing happened. By 1982, the economy was in such bad shape that the GOP talking point was not “Reagan the magnificent,” it was the plea (a principled one) that Americans should “stay the course,’’ despite the fact that there had been no evidence of growth. In fact, the economy had grown significantly worse – beginning the first full quarter Reagan was in office through the 1982 election, the growth in Gross Domestic Product was negative 8.9 percent. (By way of comparison, for the comparable period in Obama’s term, GDP growth waspositive 15 percent.) A few months after the 1982 election – in February 1983 – the Fed had finally cut the Prime Rate below 11 percent, less than half of what it was when Reagan took office. (PS – presidents don’t have any role in raising and lowering interest rates.) And, surprise! Economic growth returned. With the cost of money significantly cheaper, corporations and consumers unleashed a flurry of economic activity – by the end of the first half of 1983, GDP growth had reached positive 5.1 percent. By the 1984 elections. GDP had grown by just under 34 percent since January 1983. Now, did tax cuts help? Sure – they lessened the damaging impact of high interest rates and, when the economy turned around, they helped increase the amount of cash available for economic activity. But if interest rates hadn’t have fallen? Reagan would have been a one-term president and shuffled offstage by the GOP forever. from:
Sunshiner, you best beat a path to the bathroom. You are overloaded on crap.
Reagan started with a lousier economy than Obama. In which alternate universe did this happen?
And this bad economy was created by the same democrats who are now blaming Bush. Obviously, in your alternate universe the democrats started two UNFUNDED wars, created the largest UNFUNDED federal program (Medicare Part D) in history, and decimated the revenue stream of the federal government with massive tax cuts very heavily favoring the wealthy.
I would call you a moron or an idiot, but that would be an insult to morons and idiots. The Vulture/Voucher candidates need to find a much better class of paid troll.
Just how is that? When Bush moved out of the WH we were losing 750K jobs A MONTH. The Dow was at 8000. That was the dems fault? If that's your argument (the Dems controlled Congress back then so it is their fault), then it's the GOP's fault the recovery isn't better, since they control the House and are setting filibuster records in the Senate.
You can't have it both ways.
If Sunshine can blow reality like that, ain't nuthin' ya'll can say here that'll adjust that mental trajectory...best just let 'er troll.
As long as that makes sense to you, go with it. Just like me now, you waste your time posting that here. This audience isn't fooled by that. We heard the speech. We follow the politics. We are informed and think critically. It takes more than yelling, crying, laughing, long legs, and bullying to convince us. It takes facts and reason. Reason as in logic, not "because I said so".
Yeah, 'Never Mind' is the best retort this babbling dude can come up with. Our former Prez set the record straight as to 'who-what-where-when+how-much' better the nat'l ecomomy goes under Demo tutelage than RepubliCAN'T! Uh Huh.......
Housing crisis was caused by democratic policy. And we were attacked. These wars were not started out of the blue. But you probably think waiting it out and seeing if Iran has the cojones to use their nuclear weapons on us is a good idea. If "Bubba" got OBL when he had a chance there would have been no 911, hence, no "unfunded" wars. But we want free birth control pills, so all bets are off.
No, he didn't.
No, it wasn't.
So when people explicitly say that they got help from things like Pell Grants and the GI Bill you immediately assume that this means they worked their way up, but somehow other people need Obama? What??? I think you have comprehension failure here: careful you may crash back to Earth and explode on impact.
You do understand the difference between having an affair, in which participants were willingly involved, and rape, yes? So please don't start making desperate grabs to say that because Clinton got a bleep bleep under his desk that this somehow compares to insisting that if a rape victim didn't fight back she must have wanted it. Jesus Christ the level of sexism, stupidity, and just vileness here is astounding.
Thank you for demonstrating what happens to someone who lives in the alternative universe President Clinton spoke about last night. Now go urinate on fire hydrants back where you belong, in MoronWackoWorld. Always nice to be reminded how stupid and ignorant stupid and ignorant have to be as stupid and ignorant as you pieces of what I scrape off my shoes.
Nice. Who's the party of hate?
Check out the "texts from Bill to Hillary."
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/376586_453474108026786_1058951912_n.jpg
Bubba has spoken. End of conversation. :)
Yes! Keep Bill in the spotlight.
AND keep Bush & Cheney in the spotlight too!
I like an intelligent, smart president. There's been quite a lull in that department between Clinton and Obama.
The Romney campaign released one of the stupidest, most turgid attacks on Obama, claiming that Clinton's speech showed that Obama was a bad president. In other words, as the American deconstructionist Paul de Man used to say, Romney's people were claiming, "the text didn't say what it meant to say."
Or, as Frank Luntz says "It is not what the democrats say, it is what we tell people they 'really' said."
Bill Clinton was extraordinary! He made so many important points; brought them to light, clairified them and reminded us all of how great our President has been in the four years he has had to suffer the Repubs trying to hold him and the country back! Even so, Obama has made strides to bring our country back to financial health and solve our many problems. We have needed a cheerleader like Pres Clinton-who sees through the negative rhetoric the Repubs put out there and their out and out lies. How obvious it is-watching the tepid speeches of the Repubs. They only said, He is bad, we are better! They gave no full hearted reasons for being elected. They only intend to hurt this country more. Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Health Care, Education, Labor Unions, all are on their "hit" list! They will demolish the Middle Class and our country's health and well-being! Thank God for Barack Obama and for Bill Clinton and for our Democratic party!
Bill Clinton firmly hung the Great Recession albatross around the neck of the GOP last night. I hope the President also brings the brass tonight and finishes the job.
I wonder whether it would be an inspired or terribly horrible idea to get Bush's support for Obama. Hell, Bush and Clinton seem to be friends, and if Bush's party has disrespected him abominably in the last few months, I'm sure the Democrats would be more civil, if not entirely welcoming. I don't know what the advantage is entirely of getting Bush's support, but it seems to me that showing a friendship with some Republicans (the ones who aren't insane) would be a positive and noteworthy thing. A kind of "way of the Democrat" approach. I dunno.
Whatever, I must be dreaming, or just high from Clinton's stellar show of bi-partisan cooperation.
Clinton has still got it! He and Obama are such impressive speakers who have very different styles. I always feel as if Clinton is speaking directly to me when I listen to him. He's like a really good college professor. He speaks plain English, cuts through the bull$hit and helps me understand what is really going on. Obama is more eloquent, I believe. His soaring rhetoric reminds me of Mario Cuomo. Obama's speeches have always made me feel I can be a better person. I think he speaks to the better angels in us. I'm very excited about tonight's speech. I'm expecting a lot of AWESOMENESS.