There's been a lot of stuff said about Bill on kos this week, some of it justified. But all I can tell you is that on the campaign trail, he's as good a surrogate as Barack Obama could ask for. In his second speech on the first day of campaigning for Obama, Clinton drew a crowd of about 5000-6000 8000 people, including me.
It was really hot at this thing, that's the first thing I noticed. And unlike the rally at UCF today, it was a much more casual affair, there wasn't any National media there (Fort Pierce is a little further out of the way than Orlando,) just me, about 6000 8000 nice folks, and Bill. The Mayor introduced him, and he got right down to business.
"All of you are helping to elect Barack Obama and I thank you very much..."
(tons of cheering)
"He’s got the right philosophy; he knows America is built from ground up, not the top down."
"I’m here for two reasons: First I love my country and I love this state, it’s been awfully good to me and I want us to change," Clinton said. "The second reason I’m here is that Hillary sent me."
Big laughs on that one, and it really struck me, having not seen him speak in a long time, how at ease and in tune with the crowd he is. Fort Pierce is a town with a proud heritage and thriving African-American Community, but also a place with neighborhoods that have a lot of troubles, gang violence, and economic woes. I was happy to see the great turnout, and the young volunteers in the County north of me. These people we stoked about Obama, and they were excited and honored that President Clinton came here to talk to them personally.
It was a solid speech, I'm still waiting for a transcript for some good exact quotes, but the one that stuck with me most made it to the media:
"The Wall Street you’re mad at doesn’t exist anymore," Clinton said. "There is not a single solitary free-standing investment bank left. The last two, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley just filed for protection as bank holding companies, which means they can never be reckless with money again the way they were before."
Clinton went on, talking at length about how the housing mess is affecting all other parts of the economy, and urged the crowd to get behind legislation to fix it.
Clinton described the so-called bailout as critical, saying without it Americans soon might not be able to "buy a refrigerator on an installment plan..."
(-Palm Beach Post)
"This has to pass because of you," he added. "We have to rebuild the American dream, repair the finance system, and restore America’s leadership in the world, and that is the job of the next president of the United States..."
"This bill will be implemented under the next president, right, and you’re entitled to get your money back," Clinton said. "This is not going to cost you $700 billion if we do it right, it may not cost you one red cent if we do it right, we have to stabilize the confidence."
He spoke highly of Barack Obama, as well, particularly on economic issues. He said that when Senator Obama started working on the financial crisis months ago, he:
"...had a lot of smart people around him, I should know, a lot of them worked for me. You know what he said? 'Show me what the problem is and how to fix it and don't bother me with the politics. Let's do the right thing,'"
At one point, showing his usual charm, he commented on a person who had fainted in the heat (after urging EMT's to make sure the person was OK,)
"Someone just fainted, and I know its cause of the heat because at my age I know I don't have that much juice anymore."
All around, it was a good speech, and a real departure from what some people were (rightfully) complaining about earlier this week. He spoke highly of Obama, very highly of Joe Biden, and said nothing about the GOP ticket. The closest he got was praise of Joe Biden, saying Barack has "got a better Vice Presidential partner."
Bill Clinton is firmly on board now. He knows what's up, and he told the crowd in no uncertain terms that they had a responsibility, both to register by the Oct 6 deadline, and make sure they tell everyone they can why they're voting for the right man.
You know that if you vote for Sen. Obama he's going to win, don't you? You can turn out the lights and sing a song if you vote for him."
And he's right. If we pull off Florida, this thing is wrapped up with a bow. And Bill Clinton is helping Barack Obama get it done. Whatever is past is water under the bridge, as far as I'm concerned, because the Big Dog is back, and he's kicking ass for our side. I, for one, am glad to have him back.
I'll update when I get the full text, there was way more good stuff I can't find quotes for, especially about Biden. And sorry for the poor pictures, I'm no photographer.