Whistlestop Bill Clinton tour appeals to nostalgia as he dissects Republicans

Published on Friday 22 October 2010 16:21

Bill Clinton, out of the White House for nearly a decade and once considered a political liability, is campaigning for Democratic candidates at a pace no one can match, drawing big crowds and going to states that President Barack Obama avoids.

If the Republican mid-term wave on November 2 ends up a bit weaker than many now predict, at least some of the credit will go to the former president, the most sought-after surrogate for dozens of anxious Democratic congressional and gubernatorial nominees.

Always an intuitive campaigner who could slap backs and dissect policy with equal ease, Clinton has another appealing quality in these economic hard times: He left office amid high employment and a government surplus. Some people at his rallies wear buttons saying "I miss peace, prosperity and Clinton."

Clinton's staff say he has campaigned this year for 65 candidates at 95 events. Many of the appearances took place in the past few weeks, when Clinton slowed his work on charitable projects, such as fighting Aids and malaria, to focus on the election's final sprint.

The pace would tax anyone, not just a 64-year-old who had major heart surgery in 2004. Consider the past few days.

Clinton drew 5,000 people to an event last Sunday in San Jose backing California's gubernatorial and congressional Democrats, two days after speaking to 6,000 people at UCLA. On Monday afternoon, it was 2,000 people in Washington state for Senator Patty Murray, and another 2,000 voters that night in Denver on behalf of Senator Michael Bennet.

Obama, of course, can draw bigger crowds when he chooses - 35,000 recently turned out at Ohio State University. But he is burdened, like any sitting president, with tough and controversial decisions.

Clinton has had a decade for voters to forget some of his less popular actions. That makes him hugely attractive to Democrats seeking election. A recent Gallup poll found that voters of all stripes - Democrats, Republicans and independents - are more likely to be swayed by Clinton's endorsements than by Obama's.

Given Clinton's all-out defence of Obama's policies and the politicians who voted for them, it's easy to forget that the two men have never been close.

In speeches that often exceed 40 minutes, he gives detailed defences of the new health care law, last year's economic stimulus plan and other Obama policies under fierce Republican attacks. Echoing Obama, Clinton warns that Republicans will take the nation backward if they regain control of Congress.

He told the UCLA crowd. "Any college student in the state of California that doesn't vote in this election is committing malpractice on your own future."

In Maryland, he said: "We may not be out of the hole yet, but it was a real deep hole. At least we've stopped digging."

It wasn't always so. His 1998 impeachment after the Monica Lewinsky scandal left him few Democratic friends for a time. His vice-president, Al Gore, ran for president in 2000 by distancing himself from Clinton, a decision some say was fatal.

That seems long ago. Clinton now cannot accommodate all the candidates begging for his help.

"Nobody deconstructs the Republicans' arguments better than Bill Clinton," said Joel Johnson, a Washington lobbyist who was a top Clinton White House aide. "He just tears them apart without malice or meanness, with such an infectious sense of joy that it has the effect of really inspiring the base voters."