With all the kudos being dished around here - and to all of them, much deserved - I wanted to take a moment to give a great big thank you to the Big Dawg, Bill Clinton. I just don't think his contributions can be overstated, and I know you all believe that too. Yet, it doesn't seem like Bubba is getting quite enough love yet for what he did.
The former President really, really helped Obama out, especially that ridiculously awesome speech at the convention in Charlotte. I will replay that speech many times in the future. It was the master at his best.
At the time, Obama was still kind of floundering around a bit with his message. The campaign was going OK - hammering the hell out of Romney - but Obama wasn't reminding people well enough what he'd accomplished to that point. The economy had stabilized thanks to his work, the auto bailout was a success, Bin Laden was dead - and yet the right had a good many folks (including those in the dumb-ass pundit class) believing the country was a total mess.
Bubba stepped up to the stage and absolutely clarified everything Obama should have been saying. He simplified it for everyone. The polls clearly showed the effect he had on the convention and the campaign.
Then,, he kept right on going until the final day, delivering one great speech after another in the swing states. Now, we have what we wanted.
Bill Clinton deserves a huge shout out from us for this. So, THANK YOU MR. PRESIDENT!