Bill Clinton to Rural W. Va.: "I'd Rather Be Here with You" -- Really? When Was His Last Visit?

According to press reports Bill Clinton is barnstorming through rural West Virginia telling people that everyone else is making fun of them, and him, that only Hillary believes they are just as smart as everyone else, and only Hillary believes that they have as much right to decide who will be president as anyone.

The former president also said that he would prefer spending his time with people like them than the "other" types who "don't need a president".

Really?

Now, I may be completely wrong about this, and, for all I know, the Clintons weekend in places like Ripley and Madison, West Virginia (where these comments were delivered), but I would wager that neither Bill nor Hillary nor Chelsea have been to any of these small towns in West Virginia since Bill Clinton left office.

The Clinton Foundation has done great works for HIV victims, and he and Bush Sr. spearheaded fundraising for Tsunami relief. He received billions in pledges to combat global warming. All awesome achievements... but, all also worthy of headlines.

If I were a citizen of Ripley or Madison, or other places down on their luck, and totally ignored by Bush and radical right wing, and Bill Clinton arrived carrying the message of camaraderie, with the explicit statement that it is among these people, and in their towns, that he would prefer to spend his time, one might be entitled to ask, "where have you been for the last 7 years, Billy-boy Billy boy? Where have you been charming Billy?" Why has Clinton's prodigious energy and attention not focused on us and our plight? Are we not worthy?

After all, Clinton is telling them how much Hillary needs them.

If I were a rural West Virginian, or Kentuckyan, I would be insulted.

If I were the Obama campaign, I might suggest to these citizens that the candidate treating them like manipulable children, not worthy of the truth, is Hillary Clinton's.

Comments

[fourex]

Bill actually said before the primary that he wanted to do victory laps with Bush Sr. but was rudely rejected.

[fungeezer]

It's politics...as usual. Tell them what they want to hear. Then, well, see you in a few years.

[S1m0n]

"...that only Hillary believes they are just as smart as everyone else."

Everyone except Hillary, of course.

[oafishcad]

Hillary Clinton is going to win in West Virginia. And that's exactly why it's a good thing she hasn't dropped out of the race. How would it have looked if Obama lost a state to someone who isn't even running? McCain is still not getting all the republican votes in states since all his opponents dropped out. Get over your Hillary hate. She isn't going to win the nomination. No need for the slamming her any more. Show some class and quit.

[Relax08]

We will as soon as Hillary and her supporters stop their attacks.

[NorVaGal]

oafishcad, Your post benediction: "Show some class and quit." This is exactly the point many are trying to make to Sen. Clinton. Again, I say that we all need to practice what we preach. If she doesn't quit, which is her right, she should at least finish her campaign with class.

[JimR]

"Show some class and quit."

That's good advice for Hillary.

[ginnypoo]

You are right, Bill has been busy building a medical infrastructure in in Rwanda from the ground up and it's a success. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/85 So tell me again how horrid he is....you know nothing. Saving lives through working hard....yea, he's a bad person....NOT.

[PaulAbrams]

Great works, and I've supported his Foundation's efforts with hard,cold cash..
Just more than little disingenuous, don't you think, to tell the people of rural West Virginia that he'd rather spend his time with them, since he hasn't done it, until he needed them.

[kgb999]

This is quite true and admirable, but a W. Va. voter might well ask: "If you could build a whole hospital in Rwanda, couldn't you have funded a Cancer treatment wing in Charleston?"

The point is, not much Clinton largesse has fallen to Bill's new favoritist place on earth.

[JimR]

Good comment. I would rather spend time reading your comments than any others.