Posted on 07/03/2007 4:16:38 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
DES MOINES, Iowa - Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to boost her presidential campaign in the leadoff voting state of Iowa on Monday by embarking on a Fourth of July tour accompanied by one of the most popular figures in Democratic politics - her husband.
Bill Clinton said he is backing his wife because she is the most qualified, not because of any spousal obligation.
"All you have to do is decide who do you think will be the best president," he told thousands of voters gathered at twilight on the Iowa State Fairgrounds. "Here's what I want to say to you: I'd be here tonight if she asked me if we weren't married."
His wife, a New York senator, said she was "thrilled to finally find something in politics that I'm doing that my husband didn't do." Bill Clinton skipped the Iowa caucuses in 1992 because Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin was running against him.
(AP) Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., stands with her husband... Full Image
Normally a spouse's presence on the campaign trail isn't so noteworthy, but so far the Clinton campaign has been using Bill Clinton only sparingly. Monday's rally was the first time they had campaigned together in an early voting state, and he planned to stay at her side through the July 4 holiday.
The former president's visit comes six weeks after an internal campaign memo by a senior staffer suggested she should skip Iowa and invest her resources in other early voting states. Clinton denounced the memo, which called Iowa "our consistently weakest state," and said she would continue to compete vigorously in Iowa.
Clinton leads the Democratic field in most polls, but she has yet to break out from rival John Edwards in Iowa, which is scheduled to hold the nation's first presidential caucus on Jan. 14.
After the Clintons' trip was announced, Democratic rival Barack Obama said he would be visiting the state with his wife and daughters in a dueling family holiday.
Obama was to begin Tuesday, while the Clintons began Monday night with a rally made for Iowa television, surrounded by hay bails stuck with little American flags and thousands of flag-waving supporters.
Bringing out Bill Clinton is not without risks. He tried not to overshadow his wife at the fairgrounds, keeping his remarks to an uncharacteristically brief 8 1/2 minutes. Republicans used the joint appearance to remind voters of their personal problems.
"After Bill Clinton tarnished the name of the president of the United States, the Republican Party restored hope, respect and morality within the Oval Office by bringing positive ideas and conservative values back to the White House," the Iowa Republican Party said in an e-mail sent to reporters. "Neither Iowans nor the rest of the country need to witness another Clinton catastrophe."
Bill Clinton is especially beloved by Democrats who will decide the nomination. According to a CBS News poll, 79 percent of Democrats view Bill Clinton favorably, compared to two-thirds who said they have a favorable view of his wife.
Elementary school principal Clark Wicks of Perry, Iowa, said he thinks of Bill Clinton as a strong president who did a lot of good for the country.
"He made a lot of poor choices on the side," Wicks said, sitting with his wife under a shade tree before the event started. "But, boy, not as many as our current president on the economy, the war, education."
Bill Clinton only joined his wife publicly once before since she announced her candidacy - during a commemoration of the civil rights march in Selma, Ala., where Obama, the only black candidate in the race, threatened to overshadow her.
Clinton got another boost from an important spouse among Iowa Democrats - Ruth Harkin, the wife of the senator, announced she would back her and introduced them at the fairgrounds. Ruth Harkin was president of the Overseas Private Investment Corp. in the Clinton administration. Her husband has said he will remain neutral
"All you have to do is decide who do you think will be the best president," he told thousands of voters gathered at twilight on the Iowa State Fairgrounds. "Here's what I want to say to you: I'd be here tonight if she asked me if we weren't married."
This is actually good... only the moonbats are impressed... the rest of America remembers... and they do not like what it is that they remember “bent one”!
hildebeast must have handlers saw the horns off daily... horns that continue to grow out of that snake-filled head!!!
LLS
A quick one night stand?
There are the Clinton colors. orange and yellow.
So 70’s.
Will we ever be free of these two jackasses?
I hope she repeats her Ghandi joke. I just love her humor!
I’m about to visit my liberal relatives, Clinton supporters.
I, for the life of me, cannot think of what Ms. Clinton has DONE to qualify for the role of President. I cannot think of what she’s DONE even from a liberal mindset. As best as I can tell, liberals support Ms. Clinton exactly because:
1. She has a vagina
2. She is married to Bill Clinton
3. She has liberal views
But has she accomplished anything? If I ask my liberal relatives, “But what has she accomplished?” how might they answer? (I’m hoping for dumb looks, but am I missing something?)
He wants us to vote for his “wife” because hey you never know when a guy might need a presidential pardon. I suspect she’d give him one - if he gave her enough money.
If Hillary wasn’t married to Bubba, we’d all be going “Hillary who?”
Huh? WTH does that mean???
Too bad for her he can’t stand in for her during the debates.
Some libs answer to me that she was first lady. Then I turn around and ask them if by that logic they think Laura Bush should run. That leaves them stumped.
Dear Dims: remember, he pardoned Marc Rich, and pardons/commutations are bad.
Carry on.
Nedra Pickler (imagine trotting that name out in a singles bar) uses a trick very common to the MSM: print snarky comments from the GOP press release but counter that with comments from the “little people” like the simp of a principal (look out parents in his district) who is quoted.
One thing almost all Democrats, Republicans, American and foreigners can agree on: Bill Clinton was and is a laughingstock.
Anyone swayed and/or fooled by the Crayola clothing deserves to be ignored, even scorned. The problem is that mugs waving “Clinton Country” signs around may turn these grifters loose again.
I like it.
> This is actually good... only the moonbats are impressed... the rest of America remembers... and they do not like what it is that they remember “bent one”!
Mate, I wish you were correct on that, but you’re not. Unless the Conservatives get their act together, HillBilly will be in at a walk. And she will get two terms.
It’s frightening to watch this happen from outside the US: it is like watching a train-wreck in slow-motion.
He's just performing his marital duty by campaigning for her ...the only one he can stomach.
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