Bill Clinton's Controversial Role Is Subtext At Campaign Event

Amherst, N.H. -- As he took to the podium today in the Souhegan High School gym to advocate on his wife's behalf, questions swirled as to whether former president Bill Clinton was a campaign blessing or burden.

Following Sen. Hillary Clinton's third place showing in the Iowa caucus, much discussion has been devoted to what, exactly, had been at fault in her White House strategy. And as detailed in several media accounts, including the Associated Press and the New York Times, some of the blame has been cast Bill Clinton's way.

"The profile of Bill Clinton isn't necessarily an ideal backdrop for a campaign in which change is emerging as the coin of the realm and Hillary Clinton is swapping slogans by the week," the AP's version went.

Inside the school auditorium, the same topic was focus of much discussion. The consensus that seemed to emerge, from interviews with onlookers, political observers, and even former office holders, was that Bill Clinton could be both hindrance and help.

"Clinton has a love-hate relationship with the public," offered Jay Bradford, the former president of the Arkansas State Senate who had traveled to New Hampshire to campaign on Sen. Clinton's behalf. "When it's a love relationship he does nothing but help Hillary. When it is a hate relationship he should not be visible. Right now, in New Hampshire, it's a love relationship."

Don Saballus, a 69-year-old Democrat from Maryland who had come to New Hampshire to check out the scene, said: "It seems to be that he and Hillary may be diverging and that can be difficult to determine who is right and who to follow. He is the star. A lot of people would like to see him in the White House and probably would have voted for him for a third term if they could have. But now, it's eight years later. Do people still hold those feelings?"

Frank Luntz, the renowned Republican consultant and messaging guru saw a similar mixed bag with Bill Clinton's campaign presence.

"In almost every case there is a positive reaction in term of communication on her behalf," he told the Huffington Post. "But there is a little bit more of a split when they start talking about things they don't want to remember about the 1990s. In the end, he is a better communicator for her than she is."

Indeed, as Luntz and the AP hinted at, President Clinton propensity to delve into his own accomplishments - while in the process of championing his wife's - tends to prove problematic for her attempts to be framed as an "agent of change." On cue, during his roughly hour and ten minute address to the audience, the former president repeatedly referenced his own resume when touting Senator Clinton's.

Asked about the worsening situation in Kenya, he declared, "I worked with Kenya, I have a big project there;" before offering Hillary's position on ending the violence in the country.

When the topic of global warming came up, he said, "I was shocked when I found out she knew more about climate change than I did, since I was doing it for my foundation."

And when he lauded Hillary's economic credentials by positing that, economically, "she still think that arithmetic counts for something," he pivoted quickly to his own successes in balancing the budget.

But for all the back-and-forth focus on his years in the White House, Clinton did draw and captivate the crowd. More than 1,700 people showed up, according to Clinton's spokesperson Matt McKenna, and two hundred - including journalists Walter Isaacson and Joe Klein - were left outside because of a lack of seating.

Dozens of students sat on a bleacher in the back with their legs dangling off the ledge because no chairs were available. Ovations frequently interrupted his speech and question and answer session. This was the third of Clinton's five events during the day.

Bill Clinton did not directly mention Senator Barack Obama, his wife's chief competitor for the nomination. "I love this Democratic Primary," he said. "I don't have to be against everybody. We've all been elections were we held our nose and voted one way just because we didn't want the other candidate to win. I don't feel that way." But he did on occasion offer a subtle jab at the Illinois Democrat. "Do you want the feeling of change," he rhetorically asked, "or the fact of change?"

There was one sequence where he took what is perceived to be Obama's campaign rallying point - the ability to bridge partisan divides - and applied that attribute to his wife, noting her work with Republicans on issues such as reforming adoption laws, climate change and even defense policy.

In all, the crowd, still warm to Clinton from his go around in the New Hampshire primary in 1992, responded with enthusiastic and positive reviews.

"I think he helped her today," said Carrie Small, a 29-year-old native of New Hampshire. "I think she's a strong candidate herself and to have two strong leaders in the White House. You can't get much better than that."

Check out HuffPost's comprehensive on-the-ground New Hampshire coverage here.

Comments

[Independent voter]

09:28 AM on 01/06/2008

I'm sick of Bill Clinton, his lies, his arrogance, his megalomania. I will vote against Hillary just to keep Bill out of the white house.

[ebbtide]

07:51 AM on 01/06/2008

Truth is, Bill Clinton thought that he would have a third term through his wife's presidency. What they failed to see was the mood of the country and it's people,believing the Clinton name so famous that a win was a shoo in for the wife, indeed totally expected and without question.

Bill may still be amusing to hear and watch, but there is no way the wife can claim she is an agent for change, while Bill is up there patting his own back for accomplishments of the nineties. Won't work. Iowa showed the youth vote strong for change-many of them do not have the loyalty to Clinton-=oh they may know of him, may have a fuzzy recollection of seeing him on the teevee, but definately see in the wife, more of the same Bush handedf this country for the past seven years.

The wife looks even weaker now than before because she is using Bush tactics trying to pull the wool over the eyes of voters by jumping on the Obama meme of change claiming she is better at change than he. She really seems to think voters are that stupid after these seven years--what an insult. This is where she is really getting old--this day and age, people can communicate in an instant. They are savvy, informed and aware as never before. She held her nose up at liberals, gave her base the finger, and, cleverly she thought, voted for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Now she wants to end the war in Iraq, but keep combat troops there. She wants to go back to the nineties but claims she wants change. What a noodlehead. Not smart at all.

She is toast and Bill's reputation is tanking also.

[garyoke]

07:08 AM on 01/06/2008

I'm sick of the Bushes and I'm sick of the Clintons.

I'm sick of cigars, and I'm sick of Iraq.
Tired of stained dresses and tired of curtailed civil liberties.

Sick of Haliburton and sick of Whitewater.

Tired of the whole circus.

Time for a change. Real change.

[Norge]

06:07 AM on 01/06/2008

It is nice for spouses to help each other, though in ol bill's case, his track record for self indulgence it would seem does more damage than help.
People do not forget easily politicians who publicly lie about sordid behavior, particularly
when older men (married) use their positions of authority to satisfy some primitive drives which they do not have the self disipline to control.

Get out of the way Bill and perhaps your wife will fair higher in the poles. People see through your charm and smiles.

[CornBred]

03:52 AM on 01/06/2008

Let's keep the dynasties going!

http://www.bushandclintonforever.com

[seadog471]

12:31 AM on 01/06/2008

End Welfare for the Well Connected. Vote for Obama.

[AgathaX]

12:27 AM on 01/06/2008

I saw a clip today where Bill introduced Hillary and Chelsea as "his girls." Can you imagine someone introducing Margaret Thatcher in that way?

Hillary can't control Bill. Never could. There will not be a second Clinton presidency.

[plutorage]

11:56 PM on 01/05/2008

It was silly of Hilary to think that Bill had to play first lady.

On Iowa caucus night Bill could have been in Paris raising money for aids in Africa.

New. Change. No problem.

[Quotato]

09:07 PM on 01/05/2008

A dynasty can work if it is dynamic.

The Clinton dynasty is played out. The Bush dynasty is played out. The Kennedy dynasty is played out. We need fresh dynamic players or old and wise Wizards. Well, there ain't no Wizards around---so, we are left with the new kid on the block.

[samuraijack]

09:04 PM on 01/05/2008

Would somebody get this man a cigar and an intern please!!!! He has been working pretty hard.

[tkk]

09:02 PM on 01/05/2008

There's nothing controversial about it, he's a man campaigning for his wife.

If Obama gets the nomination, it will be because Republicans voted for him.

[Skepticat]

08:26 PM on 01/05/2008

Every time Bill Clinton appears it reminds me of the Lurleen Wallace campaign for governor of Alabama years ago with her hubby George - and the promise of a new co-presidency of carefully triangulated republican lite. Same globalist stuff but done much slicker with much more polish!

I suspect that despite some obvious talent, really good organizing and financing abilities Hillary is going to be in for a increasingly rough tide - even if she gets the nomination and the presidency.

Americans seem rightly very unhappy with the status quo and unless there is a major sea change no new president, senator or congress person is going to have an easy term. Stay the course is not going to cut it in either foreign or domestic policy.

I don't thing "going negative" on her opponents will help her that much either. All the opponents would have to do is remind voters of her voting record - which would effectively kill any marketing attempts as an agent of change(while the opponents apologize for their own records as required).

As ordinary citizens get squeezed by higher gas prices and a looming recession election prospects can only get worse for people associated with supporting the current policies. Not a good thing for HRC.

The Iowa primaries if nothing else showed that a majority of ordinary people want a real change from same old same old. Thus Huckabee a non corporatist wins for the repubs and the religious right and Obama wins as a new face for the democrats.

There's a lesson there - whether the other hopefuls learn from it remains to be seen.

[S1m0n]

07:06 PM on 01/05/2008

Hillary's adamant about being seen as a woman in her own right, and as a person with her own political career. Her friends are not shy about hinting or even saying outright that Hillary's smarter than Bill.

However, one of the truths that no one is allowed to speak about Hillary is that the woman she is in her own right (let's call her Hillary Rodham) could not have made it even this close to the presidency under her own stream.

Hillary Rodham might be smarter, but she doesn't posess a fraction of her husband's political talent or voter appeal.

So the bitter secret of her run for office is that, even now, it really *is* all about Bill. And isn't running the popular former president's wife to bypass her husband's term limit in office just a shade, well, embarrassingly banana-republican for the world's loudest democracy?

[tchristin]

07:01 PM on 01/05/2008

None of us would be discussing Hillary, we would likely not even know her name if not for Bill. That doesn't mean she hasn't made a name for herself but she is.. where she is.. because of who she is married to and maybe it just doesn't feel right to elect the spouse of a former President to the Presidency. Maybe we don't want to see it.

Bill Clinton won two terms and despite the best attempts of rabid enemies, he not only survived but he stood to be remembered as one of our most beloved Presidents. I think Hillary should not have subjected him or us... to this campaign. I think they should have quit while they were ahead.

[namesis]

06:21 PM on 01/05/2008

There are 300 million people in this country. Why are WeThePeople fixated on a me-too-wanna-be-a-dynasty, has-been and his, allegedly, smart consort, who was either too lazy to read, or too stupid to divvy up the paperwork before she voted FOR the war on a totally innocent people? And who in her unfathomable and cruel stupidy, still thinks it was a good idea. Compared to her, even the redneck religious freak, Huckabee, looks smart, educated and good.

No dynasties, thank you very much. If you failed history and don't know what dynasties do, just look at the Bush lot.

Btw: does anybody know what the current WeThePeople's pet, Obama, stand for?

I know what Edwards, Kucinich and Paul would do. Some of which I like, some I don't. Why would I want to vote for someone whose only attribute is that his thin frame wears expensive suits very well? In that case, I vote my coat-hanger for POTUS!