Posted on 12/04/2007 3:35:58 PM PST by NormsRevenge
KEENE, N.H. - (AP) — Bill Clinton said Tuesday the public would benefit from more attention to the records of the presidential candidates — like his wife's — and less to daily skirmishes that "won't amount to a hill of beans."
The former president, known as a keen strategist himself, lamented that the campaign has become too much about the horse race at the expense of policy and experience.
"Sixty-seven percent of the coverage is pure politics," he said, citing a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. "That stuff has a half-life of about 15 seconds. It won't matter tomorrow. It is very vulnerable to being slanted and rude. And it won't affect your life."
Campaigning in New Hampshire, he said Hillary Rodham Clinton's work in the Senate proves she can accomplish change and "I would pick her and be here if we weren't married."
Amber Wilkerson, speaking for the Republican National Committee, said Clinton's comments were hypocritical given the struggle to get more papers released from his presidential library.
"It would be a lot easier to assess Hillary Clinton's so-called experience if she would unlock her records and allow the public to make their own determination about her credentials," Wilkerson said.
Clinton talked up his wife's experience and — by implication — pointed out rival Barack Obama's relative lack of it at a campaign stop in Keene.
"One percent of the press coverage was devoted to their record in public life," he said. "No wonder people think experience is irrelevant."
At a later event in Claremont, Clinton told high school students that headline-grabbing skirmishes are not what matters. "The stuff will be gone with the wind," he said. "It won't amount to a hill of beans in a week or so."
Although the focus on political competition is hardly unique to this election — and Clinton is second to none in his own competitive instincts — he said he would feel frustrated if he were running this time.
"There seems to be this fashionable idea that — not just Hillary, but some of the other people who are running for president, Senator Biden, Senator Dodd, Governor Richardson — people who have done an enormous service to this country, would somehow be disqualified from national leadership because they've been change-makers in the past."
In Keene, Clinton recalled the western New Hampshire town as the place he realized he might actually win the Democratic nomination in 1992. He did not win the New Hampshire primary that year, but his second-place finish helped position him as "the Comeback Kid."
Clinton is one of several marquee surrogates trekking through snowy New Hampshire. Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling planned to join Republican Sen. John McCain on Wednesday. Oprah Winfrey planned to join Obama on Sunday.
Former President Bill Clinton speaks to an audience at Stevens High School in Claremont, N.H., Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007. Clinton said Tuesday that if reporters covered the candidates' public records better, the presidential bid of his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., would be far ahead of her rivals. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
Former President Bill Clinton reacts to being introduced by Stevens High School sophomore Hannah Putnam, right, during a stop at the Claremont, N.H., high school Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007. Clinton said Tuesday that if reporters covered the candidates' public records better, the presidential bid of his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham clinton, D-N.Y., would be far ahead of her rivals'. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
Former President Bill Clinton speaks to an audience at Stevens High School in Claremont, N.H., Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007. Clinton said Tuesday that if reporters covered the candidates' public records better, his wife's presidential bid would be far ahead of her rivals. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
He looks 80 years old in that photo... and just as creepy as ever.
“The former president, known as a keen strategist himself, lamented that the campaign has become too much about the horse race at the expense of policy and experience.
Please disabuse me of my ignorance, Bill, but what policy and experience does Hillary have - other than stealing silverware and china out of the White House?
Hey Slick Willie,
If her experience is so good why don’t u release her White House records!
And let the public see for themselves.
If the mere fact of having been around the Oval Office while Bill Clinton was working there (and I use the term "working" advisedly) is sufficient experience for the job, then Monica Lewinsky has as much claim on the Presidency as Hillary has. Maybe more.
What has Hillary ever done. The only reason she is running for the presidency is because she married a future president.
From what I know of this so-called woman she does not have the experience to be dog-catcher. She is a do nothing Senator and I am sorry but being first lady does not count as experience. Go away you sorry buffons.
How is another Clinton occupied WH “change”????
Anyways, here he is again trying to help his control-freak wife...but poltical charisma is not easily transferable, and very transparent when it’s tried.
"No wonder people think experience is irrelevant."Or maybe, Bill, it's because, when she's been asked in the past about her experiences, her answer has always been "I don't recall...."
I mean, if it didn't make enough of an impression on her to remember, why should we care?
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