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Bill Clinton Gives Passionate 48-Minute Defense Of President Obama
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 6, 2012
Modified Sep 6, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 6, 2012
Modified Sep 6, 2012
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The Big Dog owned the Democratic National Convention last night. Former President Bill Clinton took to the stage in Charlotte, NC and gave a clear appeal for another term for President Barack Obama. Notably, Clinton pointed out, "President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did. No president, not me, not any of my predecessors, could have repaired all of the damage he found in just four years."
Directly speaking to America, he said, "When we vote in this election, we’ll be deciding what kind of country we want to live in. If you want a winner-take- all, you’re-on-your-own society, you should support the Republican ticket. But if you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibility, a we’re-all-in-this-together society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden." Clinton mentioned the Republican ticket, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, and blasted Romney's support to let the auto industry fail, "So -- now, we all know that Governor Romney opposed the plan to save G.M. and Chrysler. So here’s another job score. Are you listening in Michigan and Ohio and across the country? Here -- here’s another job score. Obama: 250,000. Romney: zero."
He also took Ryan and his budget to task:
Clinton spoke for 48 minutes (his speech was 3,200 words—transcript), and pundits are calling it a "vintage" performance and Politico said that Clinton's speech "stated the case for the 44th president’s reelection in language that was crisper and more compelling than the case Obama so far has made for himself." Also, Bubba is the only one can say things like, "By the way, after last night, I want a man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama."
I want to nominate a man whose own life has known its fair share of adversity and uncertainty. I want to nominate a man who ran for president to change the course of an already weak economy and then, just six weeks before his election, saw it suffer the biggest collapse since the Great Depression, a man who stopped the slide into depression and put us on the long road to recovery, knowing all the while that no matter -- no matter how many jobs that he saved or created, there’d still be millions more waiting, worried about feeding their own kids, trying to keep their hopes alive. I want to nominate a man who’s cool on the outside... but who burns for America on the inside.
Of course, no Bill Clinton move can go under-analyzed. The NY Times reports, "Mr. Clinton’s presence here inspired gratitude among Mr. Obama’s aides and followers, particularly given the close nature of the presidential race, but it also stirred at least a degree of speculation about the future of one of America’s most prominent political families. For all of Mr. Clinton’s ebullient praise of Mr. Obama, he also was seen by some Democrats as setting the stage for his wife’s possible return to politics in 2016, a prospect yearned for by many of Mrs. Clinton’s supporters." (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was watching Bill from East Timor.)
You can watch Clinton in his element during your lunch hour:
Tagged
bill clinton
democratic national convention
election 2012
hillary clinton
joe biden
Michelle obama
mitt romney
paul ryan
president obama
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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