kingattax, where is the quote of Clinton saying the OKC bombing saved his Presidency? Do you have it anywyere? Does anyone? TY... :)
On a number of TV interviews, i have heard dick morris quote bubba on this. i believe it's also in morris' book, "Behind the Oval Office: Getting Reelected Against All Odds".
You can read below to find a record of bill clinton's comments where he attributes the OKC bombing with helping him get reelected. While you're reading it, keep in mind that a few months later, the TWA800 "mishap" occurred, giving him another cover-up to orchestrate lest it spoil his reelection chances.
In hindsight, knowing what we know now after the 9-11 attacks, it's enough to make one's blood boil.
Sources: Terror Trail... and Firm Ran Security...
To: sandmanbrIt's a shame that this wasn't investigated 6 years ago. There may be 2,800 fellow Americans alive today if it had been. The question that begs to be asked is who was behind the coverup and why was it covered-up?
Please. Allow me to speculate...
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
The Tampa Tribune
December 17, 1995
COMMENTARY, Pg. 2
Remaking of the president: Lucky Bill
by CHRISTOPHER MATTHEWS
As an early stocking-stuffer for President Clinton, I would like to suggest a new nickname: "Lucky Bill."
Check the guy's streak:(snip)
Give the president credit for making some of this luck happen.
The polls. Clinton was shocked by the 1994 election returns. So shocked that he did something about them.
A. He got the kids out of the living room. In the early months of this administration, you didn't see Clinton without his claque of young, leftish staffers. Now you don't. Out of sight, out of mind.
B. He dressed for success. We used to see Clinton sweating up to McDonald's at 6:30 a.m. for his black coffee. Now the shorts are gone, replaced by long pants. The overaged yuppie jogger has been replaced by the youthful middle-aged golfer. Instead of seeing Clinton's white legs gleaming in the morning sun, we see him with Vernon Jordan riding in a golf cart. Don't think it doesn't matter.
C. He acts like a president. Instead of pushing the agenda of his political clients, including wife Hillary, Clinton now seems most intent on protecting the average American from what the other side is up to. It started with his fine response to the Oklahoma City bombing and has carried through to his dealings with the budget. Instead of Clinton the innovator, we have seen Clinton the protector. That's the Clinton people seem to want.
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
The Boston Globe
November 7, 1996
Thursday, City Edition
NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A1Clinton, GOP stake middle-ground claim
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff(snip)
Clinton, whose chances for reelection practically were written off two years ago when he was perceived as a liberal, said yesterday that he triumphed in large part because he embodied the nation's centrist mood.
"The American people began to sort of move back to the 'vital center' after Oklahoma City," Clinton said yesterday aboard Air Force One, referring to the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma. The bombing "broke the spell in the country as people began searching for our common ground again," he said.
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
The Boston Globe
November 7, 1996
Thursday, City Edition
NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A1
Christopher leads list of Cabinet resignations; Perry also quits; major shifts seen
By Brian McGrory, Globe Staff
(snip)Yesterday, Clinton flew back to Washington on Air Force One, replayed the high points of his campaign and victory for reporters and greeted his staff in a warm, sometimes giddy celebration on the South Lawn.
"Sometimes I don't say 'thank you' enough," Clinton told the group, which ranged from office secretaries to Cabinet secretaries, the latter wearing "Welcome Home" T-shirts under their suitcoats and over dresses. "Sometimes I'm too hard on myself and by omission, sometimes I'm too hard on the people who work here. You have accomplished an enormous amount over these past four years."
After a campaign in which Clinton often seemed to strive not to create news, the day exploded with developments, all of them tinged with Clinton's obvious joy at being the first Democratic president reelected since Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Clinton, flying between Little Rock and Washington, visited reporters in the back of Air Force One, even donning a "funmeter" button given to him by one of the photographers.
Looking back over his campaign, Clinton attributed his success to a series of developments and strategy decisions in his first term. First, he said the roots of his political comeback dated to the decisions on the deficit reduction package and the crime bill that he made in 1993 and 1994. By 1996, he said, the results could be seen by the electorate, with the deficit down by more than 60 percent, and with most categories of violent crime down all over the country.
"We got interest rates down, we got the economy going and people finally started to feel it in 1996," Clinton said.
Second, he said the country began to shuck a strong antigovernment attitude and come together after the bombing of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, in which 168 people were killed, many of them government workers.
"The American people began to sort of move back to the vital center after Oklahoma City," he said.
Although Clinton refrained from saying it yesterday, the explosion provided him his most successful opportunity to use his position to talk to the country, which he did frequently in the year and a half that followed.
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
St. Petersburg Times
November 7, 1996
NATIONAL; ELECTION '96 RESULTS; Pg. 1ASecond-term shake-up
by DAVID DAHL
(snip)The step from campaigning to governing has proven especially difficult the past four years. In 1992, Clinton came into office with just 43 percent of the popular vote and proposed a restructuring of the nation's health-care system. In 1994, Republicans won control of Congress and boldly shut down the federal government to force their budget on Clinton.
The American people rejected both sides' dramatic blueprints. Clinton says the country has come to the center of the ideological spectrum now, and he is trying to place himself right there with the people.
"The American people began to sort of move back to the vital center after Oklahoma City," Clinton said. Coming after the "bitter, bitter rhetoric" of the Republican revolution, the 1995 bombing "broke the spell in the country as people began searching for our common ground again," he said.
60 posted on 06/26/2002 8:26:52 AM CDT by Nita Nupress
Hope this helps. And do me a favor: the next time someone asks your question, please post this link. There are tons of newcomers out there who need to be informed. Everyone is one their own timetable when it comes to political enlightenment. Some of the newbies may be interested. :-)