Bill Clinton to Skip Obama Speech at Invesco Field
by Stephen Clark
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday: Former President Bill Clinton waves as he arrives at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. (AP Photo)
In another sign of lingering discord between the Clinton and Obama camps, FOX News confirmed Wednesday that former President Bill Clinton will not attend Barack Obama’s Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver Thursday night.
One senior Obama aide said the candidate is “not worried about it. There’s places besides Denver where we need and will get his help winning this election.”
Clinton has continued to lob perceived bombs at the man who defeated his wife, Hillary Clinton, in the Democratic primary. Just hours before the New York senator took center stage Tuesday night to offer words of healing, her husband was detonating what could be interpreted as another blast.
Speaking at a forum of ex-world leaders less than a mile from the site of the Democratic National Convention, Bill Clinton drew an analogy that had many wondering whether the former president had made peace with the idea of an Obama candidacy.
“Suppose for example you’re a voter and you have candidate X and you have candidate Y,” Clinton said. “Candidate X agrees with you on everything but you don’t think that person can deliver on anything. Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues but you believe that on the other half, the candidate will be able to deliver.”
“This is the kind of question that I predict — and this heas nothing to do with what’s going on now — but I am just saying if you look at five, 10, 15 years from now, you may actually see this delivery issue become a serious issue in Democratic debates because it is so hard to figure out how to turn good intentions into real changes in the lives of the people we represent.”
Whether Clinton, who for 20 years has been the star of the Democratic Party, intended the analogy to represent a futuristic look at presidential politics, its relevance to the current candidacies of Republican John McCain and Obama was unmistakable.
“What his strategy is to go around drumming stuff on Obama, his crazy quotes, and he’s cultivated a careful reputation for being eccentric, and therefore, Hillary is not blamed for what he does … and the result is he can go around and dump on Obama and almost be like a negative Greek chorus,” said former Clinton speechwriter and now-FOX News contributor Dick Morris.
The motive, Morris said, is “to defeat Barack Obama and make sure Hillary can get elected in 2012.”
“I don’t think the Clintons’ feelings would be hurt” if Obama lost the 2008 election, said Republican strategist Chip Saltsman.
The former president is scheduled to put the capstone on the Hillary-Bill public endorsement of Obama during a convention speech Wednesday night.
On Wednesday, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Bill Clinton is “one of the most unique and beloved figures in the Democratic Party and the country” and will “talk about why Senator Obama is the right leader right now” and how he knows Obama “will get the country back on track.”
Obama called Bill Clinton on Tuesday night to congratulate him on his wife’s address to the convention. Obama said he knew how proud Clinton must have been watching Hillary Clinton and how grateful he was for their support.
But tensions were simmering ahead of the Clinton speech, which has not been read by the Obama campaign. Obama senior adviser Anita Dunn said the camp is “not nervous at all” about not having seen the text, but is rather “excited” since it will be an “electric moment” when Clinton makes “the case for Obama and for change.”
On Sunday, it was reported that Bill Clinton was unhappy about the night of his speech because he preferred to address domestic issues, but the theme of Wednesday night’s proceedings is foreign policy.
Obama said Monday he’d spoken to Clinton about the speech, saying he told Clinton he could talk about anything he likes.
“Bill Clinton knows a little bit about trying to yank the economy out of the doldrums,” Obama said. “It wouldn’t make sense for me to want to edit his remarks.”
Playing second fiddle to the new Democratic order doesn’t mean the former president can’t influence an Obama administration.
“Bill Clinton’s place in the hearts of Democrats is very secure. He rescued us from the wilderness” said former California Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat. “We had been wandering there for 40 years, having lost three presidential elections.
“Now we’re turning a page. Barack Obama is going to be our next president and I expect Bill Clinton to be campaigning for him.”
Davis added that Clinton could serve as an ambassador or envoy for an Obama administration the way he has for President Bush.
FOX News political analyst Michael Steele said he believes Clinton will use his Wednesday night speech to try and restore his image, especially with black voters, who were part of his base of support.
“I think this is about Bill, not Barack,” Steele said, adding that Clinton can and will restore his image.
“He still has a role to play,” he added. “He will assert that role in any number of ways. We’ll see one of those ways when he gives a speech at the convention.”
Democratic consultant Tad Devine said he expects Bill Clinton to be supportive, adding that one role Clinton could perform is that of attack dog on the Republicans.
“If anything I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Clinton give a very strong speech in support of Obama,” he said.
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