Bill And Hillary Set To Stump Together This Weekend
Hillary Clinton's campaign will once again be wheeling out their howitzer — Bill Clinton is set to campaign with Hillary this weekend in both Iowa and New Hampshire, according to a Hillary campaign release. The couple previously stumped together in Iowa on Independence Day, and attracted big crowds.
The release doesn't have specific times and locations for campaign events, but the once and perhaps future first couple will be in New Hampshire on Sunday and spend Labor Day in Iowa — both states where the polls show tight races.
Apparently the Hillary campaign still hasn't gotten the memo from all the pundits who keep telling us Bill Clinton and his personal lapses are a liability for Hillary. The reality is that he's been an asset for Hillary's campaign in multiple ways — from fundraising to reminding people of their fond memories of the 1990s. The personal appearances with Bill are also hugely beneficial — the activists who attend can walk away with both the up-front message that a vote for Hillary is a vote for Bill, and conversely an unstated idea that a vote against Hillary is a vote against Bill, too.
Comments (9)
tom wrote on August 29, 2007 3:24 PM:I have to think that Bill is a net-positive, but perhaps a small one, for Hillary. It would solidify and improve Hillary's numbers in bluer states to some extent, but wouldn't have a negative effect in redder states. I have to think that (B.) Clinton Fatigue is becoming less and less prevalent, particularly in the South, on account of the sheer stupidity of the Bush Administration.
And yet Bill could feature in some of the swiftboating in store for Hillary should she move on. Way too early to say for sure.
(P.S.: Eric--you might remember me. Daily Cardinal co-columnist in 2002-2003; my Deaniac columns versus your New Democrat stylings? How are you?)
Michael Caine wrote on August 29, 2007 3:34 PM:So explain to me again how the Republicans are not going to be able to mobilize their base with the specter of Bill Clinton being tied to Hillary?
js wrote on August 29, 2007 3:42 PM:3 books were written about her already but everybody is bored and tired of the same old garbages. I am sure the RW will drag out Monica, Wiley and other women but the people are tired of it so it won't change people's mind. My 3cents anyway.
mopper wrote on August 29, 2007 3:43 PM:But of course for some...its ridiculous to expect her to defend Bill's record.
I'm fine with her running in part on "return Bill to the White House with me." But there's good and bad with that. That means she gets the bad, too.
sillysally wrote on August 29, 2007 3:59 PM:Clinton fatigue was the crap spoken by hacks like Tucker Carlson et al when they tried to hint that Bill Clinton's 65% approval rating when he left office didn't mean anything. Baloney it didn't!!
He was a great president with many excellent public policy ideas.
tom wrote on August 29, 2007 4:49 PM:sillysally:
Yes, Clinton Fatigue is not Scottish. (Therefore, crap!)
And yet it still resonates among wingnuts who join rally squads, fork over cash to candidates and run ads calling decorated veterans wimps and liars. It's gotta be a concern, at least on some level.
NCSteve wrote on August 29, 2007 8:03 PM:Okay, I tried to resist, but, c'mon, "wheeling out their howitzer?" Did I accidentally click on the link for "Wonkette?"
Okay, now that I've given vent to my momentary lapse of maturity, has anyone really thought about the fact that having Bill as First Gentlemen many not be the Really Great Thing her campaign would have us believe? Besides the fact that he'll have more paparazzi than Brangelina following his every move, I mean?
I'm reminded of the time, many, many years ago, after Adolph Rupp finally retired as basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. He retired but, incredibly, he kept his coach's show on the local TV station. His succesor, Joe B. Hall ("a/k/a "Joe B. Gone" among Kentucky's always ever nonjudgmental fans), had been Rupp's assistant coach for years. After he took over the reins, he got his own show on the same channel, but nonetheless, every week, there'd be the gigantic shadow of the winningest coach in history (at the time), second-guessing his old assistant's every move. I was as hard on ol' Joe as every other UK fan, but damn, that was not a comfortable situation.
I'm guessing that the urge to kibbitz excessively will quickly become unbearable for both of them.
Kap wrote on August 30, 2007 1:56 AM:For Michael Caine and the other naysayers: How about the Congressional elections of 1998, when the Republicans ran on Bill Clinton, the "very bad boy" (or whatever it is Senator Craig is saying in the Meet the Press clip). Clinton broke a record that had stood for over 150 years by gaining seats in the House of Representatives in the 6th year of a Presidential term because decent-minded, independent voters thought the Republicans were tawdry with the impeachment. Obama's sunk into the low 20's (Rasmussen daily) since the Mrs. made her diatribe about "running your own house". So even if the Republicans could magically erase the notoriety of Craig, Vidder and Foley, trying to ramp-up their 15 years of swiping at Hillary is a precarious proposition. Been there, done that, didn't work!
AJM wrote on August 30, 2007 9:55 AM:Zogby has polled on this issue. I don't have a link handy but Bill is a substantial asset to Hillary.
Forming theories of policies on your gut instincts is fine but they need to be tested against the data. Most Americans are mature enough to recognize that Bill Clinton did a good job as President and that the rest is between him and Hillary. The historical record shows that being a good President does not correlate with private virtue.
