It gets better with the Big Dog: Any old TV commentator is about as experienced as Obama

[BeyondGeography]

Bill Clinton, on 'Charlie Rose' Show, Suggests Obama Not Ready

By Greg Mitchell
Published: December 14, 2007 11:55 PM ET

NEW YORK In a surprisingly frank interview with Charlie Rose on his PBS show late Friday night, former President Bill Clinton declared that his wife was not only far better prepared to be president than her chief rival Sen. Barack Obama -- "it's not even close" -- but that voters who disagreed would be choosing to "roll the dice" if they picked the latter.

Repeatedly dismissive of Obama -- at times with language that could come back to haunt the Clinton campaign -- the former president at one point said that voters were, of course, free to pick someone with little experience, even, he said, "a television commentator" who would have just "one year less" experience in national office than Obama. He had earlier pointed out that Obama had started to run for president just one year into his first term in the U.S. Senate.

Clinton also said, surprisingly, with a laugh, "It would be a miracle if Hillary wins in Iowa, and I'm not just low-balling you." He said John Edwards might well win -- which would certainly be preferable, from the Clintons' perspective, to an Obama win.

He praised Obama's intelligence and "sensational political skills" but repeatedly suggested that, unlike his wife and some of the other candidates, he might not be ready for the job. Asked directly about that, Clinton refused to state that bluntly, but did point out that when he was elected president in 1992 at about the same age as Obama, he was the "senior governor" in the U.S. and had worked for years on international development issues. Viewers could draw their own conclusions...==

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003686025

[skipos]

1. Freaking lame.

And I am not even a BC hater.

[babylonsister]

2. I'm listening. nt

[mrreowwr_kittty]

3. Well yeah, we should definitely be concerned with what Bill's Republican friends say

Since they've "vetted" Hillary. I guess that means they won't bother to attack her now. :eyes:

[Egnever]

4. He makes good points

Unfortunately many at this point are so fed up with business as usual in washington that they are ready to take a scorched earth aproach and throw all the bums out.

I think this is clintons biggest problem actually. People are just tired of the non representation from all the folks with experience and are yearning for a fresh start. Obama has tapped into this feeling eloquently and has an excelent record of public service before personal enrichment that gives people hope for the future.

I think at any other time clinton would walk away with this thing. Unfortunately for her and Bill a whole lot of people want a real break.

[maximusveritas]

5. I'm losing respect for Bill

There was a recent article about Bill (not Mark Penn) was the one behind Hillary's strategy of going after Barack. Does he not want her to win or something?

[lurky]

8. I hadn't thought of that...

Maybe he doesn't. He has a pretty good life right now, and I bet it would be tough for him to play second fiddle after being president. Not to mention all the personal smears, innuendo, and loss of privacy that would come with being back in the White House. Could he be undermining her?

[alittlelark]

6. OK, that comment is just embarrassing.

This one is even worse - "It would be a miracle if Hillary wins in Iowa, and I'm not just low-balling you." He knows she is sinking rapidly - lowered expectations are always good in that situation.


This REEKS of a 'prepared statement'.


Color me jaded and disgusted.

[K Gardner]

7. Oh boy. I'm starting to feel like the Clintons would have best preserved their legacy

by just finding a cause and using their (once high) popularity to advance it. Kind of like, say, Al Gore did.
This is getting embarassing.

[Renew Deal]

9. Is 2008 the year we are done with them for good?

Do we finally move on? I liked Bill and what he did after office, but I feel like he's trying to save himself. What the Clintons are doing is the same as what the Bush's are. They're trying to keep the family in it.

[K Gardner]

21. I still love Bubba - and I think he truly feels Hillary would be

a good President(and she probably would be if you like the centrist stuff. I don't think its a power grab for him, but that's just me. Nevertheless, Hill isn't Bill, and she just can't pull off what he did. It's a personality thing, unfortunately. It makes me feel bad for him because I see how very hard he's trying to dig her out of this hole, and I personally just don't see it happening.

[Connie_Corleone]

10. I just finished watching that interview.

Bill was certainly slinging some bullshit that hour. Yeah, they're worried.

[BeyondGeography]

15. Whoa, sounds like this was a total disaster; check this out

==Towards the end of the interview, Rose indicated that Clinton's staff was asking producers in his show's control room to get them to have Rose end the interview.

And Clinton said: "Somebody will parse this interview..." to take his quotes out of context. "It is stupid... I think we are fortunate in having people..I think the relevant question from me is, who will be the best president who has a proven record of making change in the lives of other people."

They may parse his body language. Toward the end of the interview, his hands began to shake and his face reddened as he discussed the political thicket his wife finds herself in.==

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/

[DURHAM D]

11. What a bunch of up-thread nonsense.

Did anyone actually read the article. Nothing at all wrong with Bill's comments.

I guess the Barakanoids just don't want anything even remotely close to the facts stated about their hero and leader.

Barak can make all of the bitchy comments he wants and never gets called on it by the press. If Hillary said half of the snarky shit that he does she would be suffering a far worse gang-bang then she already is while saying virtually nothing.

It is just a matter of weeks before they begin to refer to Barak as the new teflon man - nothing sticks because he is so slimy.

[Connie_Corleone]

12. I actually WATCHED the interview.

Bill is worried, pure and simple.

[DURHAM D]

13. Right - and so are you. n/t

[Connie_Corleone]

14. I know you are, but what am I ? INFINITY!! LOL!!

:rofl: :rofl:

[Beacool]

16. He was just telling the truth.

He praised Obama's intelligence and "sensational political skills" but repeatedly suggested that, unlike his wife and some of the other candidates, he might not be ready for the job.

Same thing I just heard today at a luncheon with high level executives of a Fortune 100 company. It was a small luncheon to celebrate someone's 10th anniversary with the firm. At one point, the conversation turned to politics and the one thing that everybody seemed to agree on was this: Obama is too inexperienced to be president. These people deal with high level government officials here and abroad and were definitely not impressed with Barack. This belief is not the exception, I hear it all the time.

[BeyondGeography]

17. Corporate execs preferring HRC

:scared:

[Beacool]

18. And who do you think runs this country???

The company I was referring to posted a 400 billion dollar profit in the last quarter, their assets total over 3 trillion dollars. Let me put it this way, when their CEO speaks, the world leaders listen. Besides, some of these executives weren't even Democrats, they were just pointing out was is more than obvious to plenty of people. The presidency is too important of a job to go in there with training wheels. There's Shrub as proof of what can happen when you pick the most inept guy in the bunch. Obama has a lot of potential, but I don't think that right now he's ready for the job.

[BeyondGeography]

19. So impressive...like these folks know the first damned thing about Obama

Give him 30 minutes alone with them and they'd be singing a different tune.

Here's Obama being interviewed by the CEO and questioned by the employees of this little company called Google:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4fgOkh9euBs

The questions are quite good, you should watch how he handles them.

[monmouth]

20. All of the things Bill wants in a candidate, Joe Biden has....n/t

[Bucky]

22. The way he fights for his wife makes me love the Big Dog all over again

He's a great guy and a wonderful husband. I have nothing to say against him.

But I hope his candidate loses & stays in the Senate.

[BootinUp]

23. Your thread title is a distortion of course. nt