There have been a lot of stories out there lately, including one in the conservative Telegraph that was detailed in several recommended diaries here, stating that Bill Clinton is bitter and angry with Obama. Some of the stories stated Bill was sulking, while others went further to say he was withholding his support for Obama until Obama apologized to him for something or other.
Some Kossacks seemed to take Bill's silence in reaction to the stories as a sign of their veracity, while others pointed to his lack of public support for Obama thus far.
Today, Terry McAuliffe is making Bill's stance clear.
CNN:
Sen. Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton are expected to meet in the next few days, according to the chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful presidential bid.
Terry McAuliffe said the former president was angered by media reports suggesting he bore a grudge against Obama after the sometimes bruising primary campaign and did not plan to actively support Obama in the general election.
"He was angry that these ridiculous stories were out here, and these supposed close friends of the president -- none of the close friends ever got called," McAuliffe said, referring to anonymous sources quoted in some stories. "What happens, a lot of time, is people like to pretend they're close so they can tell the reporters that they're close, but, you know, they're just talking."
The Telegraph article claimed that an anonymous Democrat had been told by an unnamed source that Bill had said mean things about Obama. We're all skeptical of the press, especially the right wing press, and we should be skeptical of this as well. Secondhand hearsay from an anonymous source is about as poor as sourcing gets.
As for Bill's lack of public appearances supporting Obama, many people speculating that this was a strategic decision from the campaign to let Hillary and Obama promote their Unity before introducing other elements. That speculation appears to have been correct:
But some analysts read bitterness into the fact that Bill Clinton did not appear at either event and had made no personal comments supporting Obama since his wife conceded the nomination. Instead, the former president released a statement through a spokesman saying he "is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do" for Obama.
McAuliffe said Bill Clinton merely was waiting in order to avoid taking the public's focus off the joint appearances by Obama and Hillary Clinton.
"Any time that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama speak, it's going to be big news," McAuliffe said. "They wanted this out of the way first. Now that that's over, they will speak. And I'll bet you they speak within the next 24 hours, 48 at the most."
He also joked at rumors that the ex-president remains angry at Obama over the Democratic campaign.
"This man doesn't stay mad," he said. "He can get mad for 24 hours. It's his Irish ancestry."
A lot of people who were skeptical of Hillary Clinton's intentions before her last two major speeches endorsing Obama retained their skepticism of Bill Clinton. Hopefully, that too will wane.
Bill Clinton is far from perfect as a person, a president, and a politician. But he's a good Democrat and an essential aspect of Democratic unity, and, ultimately, he'll be an asset in this campaign.