Should Obama Put Bill Clinton to Work on Swinging Votes for Health Care Bill?

Bill Clinton has been uncharacteristically silent lately. Hillary, too, who has had to contend not only with a fractured elbow but also with a crew of Obama-appointed special envoys who cover the world's hot spots and condense her portfolio. She finally, this week, found her voice, responding to pundits' speculation that President Obama had managed brilliantly to sideline both her and her husband. She described herself as fully engaged as Secretary of State and quipped, "I broke my elbow, not my larynx."

She spoke for herself, not Bill. Yes, last May he too won a special envoy appointment, but his came from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, and it was not to the Middle East, where Hillary hinted during the primaries that she might send him after she moved into the Oval Office, or Afghanistan/Pakistan or North Korea-- but rather to....Haiti.

Here's an idea for President Obama. How about naming the former president and Arkansas governor, special envoy to ...his old friend and traveling companion, Arkansas Congressman Mike Ross? (Bill and Mike go way back; Mike volunteered in 1982 to drive Bill all over Arkansas when Clinton was running for governor).

Ross is now a four-termer representing the 4th District of Arkansas and he owes Bill Clinton big time. In 2000, about to leave office and seriously sidelined by his own vice president, Al Gore, Bill Clinton was pining to be out on the campaign trail. Clinton traveled to the district the Sunday before the election to speak for Ross and to bring out the African American vote--the 4th District has the state's largest population of blacks. Without the boost from Clinton, Ross might have lost to the republican incumbent, Jay Dickey--a man whom the President had vowed to defeat as payback for Dickey's voting for Clinton's impeachment . While Bill's appearance in Arkansas didn't keep George W. Bush from winning the state, it did put shove Ross over the finish line--with 51 percent of the vote.

Now Ross, a leading Blue Dog Democrat, said his group has enough votes --seven members, perhaps as many as 10-- to derail Obama's health care bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Perhaps Bill Clinton, who knows something about losing the fight for national health care, can persuade Ross to change his mind.

As I discovered while writing Clinton in Exile, a book about Bill Clinton's post presidency, it's often unclear where exactly Bill Clinton's interests reside. Is it to the Clintons' advantage for Obama to succeed in a mega-reform of health care -or not? It depends on what the definition of ..... 2012 is.

Comments

[NevaforLeadership]

02:43 PM on 07/21/2009

NO, NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

[Gmoney1]

01:07 PM on 07/20/2009

Nope absolutely not - Hillary needs to do her job and do it well while staying away from the media -reason - the media agitates and create negative news stories for ratings -

[2Bfair]

06:01 AM on 07/21/2009

and the Clintons love headlines and drama. Forces of natural attraction?

[yankees]

10:10 AM on 07/20/2009

Absolutely not as the Clinton name and the Health Program do not mix. It's unfortunate he can't use Bill in foreign policies instead of his power hungry, do nothing wife.

[bighat]

10:02 AM on 07/20/2009

Instead of Bill Clinton better find someone that can convince the governors. They did not seem impressed with the health care bill. Party affiliation did not matter.

[2Bfair]

05:16 AM on 07/20/2009

Bill Clinton only works for what is best for Bill Clinton. Do we really want his huge ego swaggering around in the tense healthcare debate?

Clintons deep conflicts of interest could bring more problem than benefit on any issue. Obama would be wise to continue to keep Bill Clinton at a comfortable distance, and hope that Hillary can live up to her agreement to prevent Bill from causing a major internation embarassment for this administration..

[2Bfair]

05:32 AM on 07/20/2009

internation* = International

[Carol Felsenthal]

10:09 AM on 07/20/2009

journalists--and i include myself in that number, having written a book (paperback ed, 6/09) on clinton's post presidency--need to carefully watch Bill's activities. We should not wait until Hillary's financial disclosure forms are published to find out to whom he's speaking and for how much and to examine those activities for conflicts of interest.

[2Bfair]

06:31 AM on 07/21/2009

It is both Bill Clinton's business relatiolnships and the Clinton Foundaditon and Global Initiative. Are journalists examining its 990 tax forms which are required of all non-profit, tax-exmpt "501c3" organizations? Where are they posted on line?

There seems to be a HUGE amount of intertwined activity, business deals, selling of influence, profit-tmaking, apparent conflict of interest, and quid pro quo donations.

Given Hillary Clinton's business-oriented "negotiations" in India, and some likely is anyoone looking at the close Clinton ties with Vindo Gupta, or Clinton Foundation donors such as Amar Singh, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, Ajit Gulabchand and ties to companies like Reliance, Ranbaxy, Iffco and Suzlon and Confederation of Indian Industry?
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E1D61630F93AA25751C1A96E9C8B63 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3864349,prtpage-1.cms http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-12/02/content_7259617_2.htm
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GC01Df03.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/19/hillary-clinton-charitable-fund-donations Bill and http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/memo1.pdf i
Vinod Gupta http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/us/politics/14gupta.html?pagewanted=print

Is anyone asking quesitons about how Bill's travel expenses are charged, when he mixes business and "philanthropy"?
Frank Giustra http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/us/politics/31donor.html

VAnity Fair scratched the surface, but no follow up.
www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/clinton200807

[amygdalalama]

10:09 PM on 07/19/2009

It depends. He is excellent at making well-reasoned economic and policy arguments. On the other hand, he's also a wheeler-dealer.

Also, why did he get sent off to Haiti? Inquiring minds want to know.

[mommadona]

06:53 PM on 07/19/2009

NO-ABSOLUTELY NOT

It's the Clintonian DLC-types in passive/agressive mode that are CAUSING THE HOLDUP.

Fox in da hen house, shoo fly, shoo....

[LMPE]

04:47 PM on 07/19/2009

Obama can use the Clintons as proof that Arkansas can produce better politicians than Mike Huckabee.

[EducatedObserver]

10:06 AM on 07/19/2009

I submit that this kind of posting would be beneath someone of Bill Clinton's calibre and stature.

[2Bfair]

05:23 AM on 07/20/2009

Although I agree that Bill should not involved as Obama's agen on healthcre reformt, given Clinton's record, I cannot think of anything that would be "beneath" his " calibre and stature. " He has cashed in on the stature of a former president by selling influence to virtually anyone who will pay.

[Manx]

02:57 AM on 07/19/2009

It's much too late for that. Besides,how would it look if Clinton had to come in and bail the rookie president out of trouble? Obama blew it by sending out mixed signals about what he expected from a reform plan. He wasted too much time on the bi-partisanship approach. Where is Lyndon Johnson when we really need him. He knew how to deal with congressmen.

[RapidRay]

07:29 PM on 07/18/2009

I'm standing here on the plexiglass walkout of the Willis Tower way above Macy's department store softly repeating "Sic Transit Gloria".
As you well know, Wild Bill Clinton has been running silent and running deep lately. You blogged exactly one year ago that his foundation is making private deals with drug companies for discounted malaria drugs for Africa. It also works to cure AIDS/HIV, works on global warming initiatives and is trying to drag Haiti out of it's endless poverty:
http://www.clintonfoundation.org/
Maybe staying out of politics is a better way for him to make progress and hey, maybe make a buck or two as well. "No longer riding on the merry-go-round, I just had to let it go".
Then again... maybe not.

[edwarvir]

06:10 PM on 07/18/2009

HELL TO THE NO! Bill Clinton had his day. He is quiet
good let him stay that way.
.

[MelRoy]

05:46 PM on 07/18/2009

That's an excellent idea. President Clinton would be a terrific asset, and we know he is a "true believer".

[hauty007]

05:36 PM on 07/18/2009

Is this tactic what's best for freedom of choice?

Some will argue NO, some will sit on the FENCE & see what happens.

The REST go w/ the FLOW, without an inkling of what is encompassed within the 1000+ page bill.

Will the House & Senate represent "what's best for every USA citizen"?

[CydMiller]

04:39 PM on 07/18/2009

YES! Bill Clinton would be valuable in more than just healthcare