Taken from Fox news
In another sign of lingering discord between the Clinton and Obama
camps, FOX News confirmed Wednesday that former President Bill Clinton
will not attend Barack Obama’s Democratic presidential nomination
acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver Thursday night.
A senior Obama aide said the candidate is “not worried about it.
There’s places besides Denver where we need and will get [Clinton's]
help winning this election.”
Clinton has continued to lob perceived bombs at the man who defeated
his wife, Hillary Clinton, in the Democratic primary. Just hours before
the New York senator took center stage Tuesday night to offer words of
healing, her husband was detonating what could be interpreted as
another blast.
Speaking at a forum of former world leaders less than a mile from
the site of the Democratic National Convention, Bill Clinton drew an
analogy that had many wondering whether he had made peace with the idea
of an Obama candidacy.
“Suppose for example you’re a voter and you have candidate X and you
have candidate Y,” Clinton said. “Candidate X agrees with you on
everything but you don’t think that person can deliver on anything.
Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues but you believe that
on the other half, the candidate will be able to deliver. For whom will
you vote?
“This is the kind of question that I predict — and this has nothing
to do with what’s going on now — but I am just saying if you look at
five, 10, 15 years from now, you may actually see this delivery issue
become a serious issue in Democratic debates because it is so hard to
figure out how to turn good intentions into real changes in the lives
of the people we represent.”
Whether Clinton, who for 20 years has been the star of the
Democratic Party, intended the analogy to represent a futuristic look
at presidential politics, its relevance to the current candidacies of
Republican John McCain and Obama was unmistakable.
“What his strategy is to go around drumming stuff on Obama, his
crazy quotes, and he’s cultivated a careful reputation for being
eccentric, and therefore, Hillary is not blamed for what he does … and
the result is he can go around and dump on Obama and almost be like a
negative Greek chorus,” said FOX News contributor Dick Morris, a former
Clinton adviser.
The motive, Morris said, is “to defeat Barack Obama and make sure Hillary can get elected in 2012.”
“I don’t think the Clintons’ feelings would be hurt” if Obama lost the 2008 election, said Republican strategist Chip Saltsman.
The former president is scheduled to put the capstone on the
Hillary-Bill public endorsement of Obama during a convention speech
Wednesday night.
On Wednesday, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Bill Clinton is “one
of the most unique and beloved figures in the Democratic Party and the
country” and will “talk about why Senator Obama is the right leader
right now” and how he knows Obama “will get the country back on track.”
Obama called Bill Clinton on Tuesday night to congratulate him on
his wife’s address to the convention. Obama said he knew how proud
Clinton must have been watching Hillary Clinton and how grateful he was
for their support.
But tensions were simmering Wednesday ahead of Clinton’s speech,
which has not been read by the Obama campaign. Obama senior adviser
Anita Dunn said the camp is “not nervous at all” about not having seen
the text, but is rather “excited” since it will be an “electric moment”
when Clinton makes “the case for Obama and for change.”
On Sunday, it was reported that Clinton was unhappy about the night
of his speech because he preferred to address domestic issues, and the
theme of Wednesday night’s proceedings is foreign policy. Clinton,
however, will be speaking on the importance of a strong economy.
Obama said Monday he’d spoken to Clinton about the speech, saying he told Clinton he could talk about anything he likes.
“Bill Clinton knows a little bit about trying to yank the economy
out of the doldrums,” Obama said. “It wouldn’t make sense for me to
want to edit his remarks.”
Playing second fiddle to the new Democratic order doesn’t mean the former president can’t influence an Obama administration.
“Bill Clinton’s place in the hearts of Democrats is very secure. He
rescued us from the wilderness” said former California Gov. Gray Davis,
a Democrat. “We had been wandering there for 40 years, having lost
three presidential elections.
“Now we’re turning a page. Barack Obama is going to be our next president and I expect Bill Clinton to be campaigning for him.”
Davis added that Clinton could serve as an ambassador or envoy for an Obama administration the way he has for President Bush.
FOX News political analyst Michael Steele said he believes Clinton
will use his Wednesday night speech to try and restore his image,
especially with black voters, who were part of his base of support.
“I think this is about Bill, not Barack,” Steele said, adding that Clinton can and will restore his image.
“He still has a role to play,” he added. “He will assert that role
in any number of ways. We’ll see one of those ways when he gives a
speech at the convention.”
Democratic consultant Tad Devine said he expects Bill Clinton to be
supportive, adding that one role Clinton could perform is that of
attack dog on the Republicans.
“If anything I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Clinton give a very strong speech in support of Obama,” he said.
FOX News’ Sharon Liss and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Recent Comments