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Divernan

(15,480 posts)
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 03:01 AM Mar 2015

Shock: Bill Clinton offered debate advice to Romney

In September 2012, when Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, spoke at the annual Clinton Global Initiative gathering in New York, Mr. Clinton gave him advice backstage about how to appear in command when facing off against Mr. Obama in their coming debates.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/us/politics/to-avert-repeat-of-2008-clinton-team-hopes-to-keep-bill-at-his-best.html?_r=0
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
The Shock: Bill Clinton offered debate advice to Romney headline was used in the HuffPo link to the NYT story. And it IS a shock. More basically, why the hell did Bill Clinton even give Romney, the goddamned Republican candidate, pride of place and a spotlight at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting?

Other excerpts from the linked, long and worth a read, NYT article:

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s advisers are once again grappling with how to deploy Mr. Clinton, a strategic imperative that was executed so poorly in 2008 that it resulted in some of the worst moments of her campaign.

Making sure Mr. Clinton has his own campaign aides is a priority: As he has aged and retained a demanding schedule, he has become more dependent on a staff. Mr. Clinton, who has lost more than 20 pounds since 2008, sends an aide to buy his dress shirts at Bergdorf Goodman, and when he steps out of his chauffeured S.U.V., he sometimes spreads his arms awaiting an aide to put his jacket on each arm.

In hopes of collaborating with Mr. Clinton better than in 2008 — if not controlling him outright — advisers to Mrs. Clinton are involving him more closely in early campaign planning, and they are discussing whether to deploy a senior aide to travel with him to keep him focused on his wife’s central message. . . He has said that if his wife wins the White House, he will maintain the family’s home in Chappaqua, N.Y., and continue to lead the philanthropy.

Mr. Clinton is never as enraged or unpredictable as when his wife comes under attack. He will also remain focused on the Clinton Foundation, which has come under criticism for its fund-raising practices. (While Mrs. Clinton is likely to be campaigning in the next several months, Mr. Clinton will have a packed schedule of foundation-related events, including a big trip to Africa with supporters of his charity.) He runs the risk of reinforcing a Republican argument that the Clintons are America’s baby boomer past and do not represent a generational change in leadership. And he remains a wild card: What part would he play if he returned to the White House as first gentleman?


Basically, it appears that Bill will be packed off the campaign trail and even out of the country via the boutique family foundation(the usual high profile, luxurious meeting - private jets, 5 star hotel/presidential suites/ large personal retinue of handlers); and should HRC make it to the Oval Office, he'll be staying in Chappaqua! So it wouldn't be "two for the price of one" this time around.
22 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Shock: Bill Clinton offered debate advice to Romney (Original Post) Divernan Mar 2015 OP
These aren't your parent's Clintons.... Joe the Revelator Mar 2015 #1
http://blogs.citypages.com/gop/hillary-walmart.jpg blkmusclmachine Mar 2015 #2
Bull fucking shit. joshcryer Mar 2015 #3
It didn't help. PeteSelman Mar 2015 #4
Party loyalty is for proles. woo me with science Mar 2015 #5
TRUTH! Thank you for your post. Bozvotros Mar 2015 #19
The wild card thing... nlkennedy Mar 2015 #6
Don't we know his "habits, thoughts and processes" already? LiberalElite Mar 2015 #17
Not surprising thesquanderer Mar 2015 #7
Just Bill being Bill? Badass Liberal Mar 2015 #8
yes.... hlthe2b Mar 2015 #15
Who do you think Clinton is closer to financially? You or Mi$$? jtuck004 Mar 2015 #9
I prefer the retired lifestyle of another President, President Jimmy Carter Sienna86 Mar 2015 #10
Of course they do! tazkcmo Mar 2015 #13
Nice job. Mitt lost. TheCowsCameHome Mar 2015 #11
Good advice for the debate. Here's what you do Mitt. justhanginon Mar 2015 #12
Bill Clinton has always had a deep seated need to be liked/loved that manifests often in impulsive hlthe2b Mar 2015 #14
Hmmm, unsourced horseshit , swallowed wholesale by the usual suspects. Nt pkdu Mar 2015 #16
You can't throw the New York Times under your bus, kiddo! Divernan Mar 2015 #20
Hilarious ,.. pkdu Mar 2015 #21
$$$$$$$ nt Fearless Mar 2015 #18
Apologize! Bill Clinton would never schmooze with the opposition. AtomicKitten Mar 2015 #22
 

Joe the Revelator

(14,915 posts)
1. These aren't your parent's Clintons....
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 03:31 AM
Mar 2015

....i mean they are they were doing this same back stabby stuff in 92 and before. So i guess the better thought would be, todays voters aren't the Clinton voters of the 90s. The world has changed and they have not.

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
5. Party loyalty is for proles.
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 05:47 AM
Mar 2015

We misunderstand politics and our politicians in 2014 when we assume their goal is always to win. That was the old system, democracy.

In oligarchy, the goal is using the two parties you own in whichever way best furthers the corporate agenda of the oligarchy.

DCCC email campaign: "Accept defeat"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025736826

Red vs. Blue = Oligarchy Theater for the masses.

Mass spying on Americans? Both parties support it.
Austerity for the masses? Both parties support it.
Cutting social safety nets? Both parties support it.
Corporatists in the cabinet? Both parties support it.
Tolling our interstate highways? Both parties support it.
Corporate education policy? Both parties support it.
Bank bailouts? Both parties support it.
Ignoring the trillions stashed overseas? Both parties support it.
Trans-Pacific Job/Wage Killing Secret Agreement? Both parties support it.
TISA corporate overlord agreement? Both parties support it.
Drilling and fracking? Both parties support it.
Wars on medical marijuana instead of corrupt banks? Both parties support it.
Deregulation of the food industry? Both parties support it.
GMO's? Both parties support it.
Privatization of the TVA? Both parties support it.
Immunity for telecoms? Both parties support it.
"Looking forward" and letting war criminals off the hook? Both parties support it.
Deciding torturers are patriots? Both parties support it.
Militarized police and assaults on protesters? Both parties support it.
Indefinite detention? Both parties support it.
Drone wars and kill lists? Both parties support it.
Targeting of journalists and whistleblowers? Both parties support it.
Private prisons replacing public prisons? Both parties support it.
Unions? Both parties view them with contempt.
Trillion dollar increase in nuclear weapons. Both parties support it.
New war in Iraq. Both parties support it.
New war in Syria. Both parties support it.
Carpet bombing of captive population in Gaza. Both parties support it.
Selling off swaths of the Gulf of Mexico for drilling? Both parties support it.
Drilling along the Atlantic Coast? Both parties support it.



Bozvotros

(782 posts)
19. TRUTH! Thank you for your post.
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 01:20 PM
Mar 2015

In the traditional good cop bad cop routine, the good cop allows the bad cop to beat and threaten you before he "rescues" you and gets you to cooperate with what they both want. And we all know what happened to Serpico.

nlkennedy

(60 posts)
6. The wild card thing...
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 05:48 AM
Mar 2015

The idea of Clinton as the first gentleman is what is supposed to punch her candidacy over the top.

The media will act like a 15 year old girl at a Michael Jackson concert when they get imagery of Bill living in the White House... what are his habits, thoughts, and processes, etc?

It's too juicy for all involved.

thesquanderer

(11,953 posts)
7. Not surprising
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 05:55 AM
Mar 2015

re: "More basically, why the hell did Bill Clinton even give Romney, the goddamned Republican candidate, pride of place and a spotlight at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting? "

It's a non-partisan group. He doesn't just take support (and money) from Democrats.

And once Romney was there, sure, I could see the rest happening. Bill can't keep his mouth shut. He likes to talk, he likes to show off his political acumen. Even when doing so actually demonstrates perhaps a little less of it.

 

Badass Liberal

(57 posts)
8. Just Bill being Bill?
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 05:59 AM
Mar 2015

He's typically not spiteful. But he does have a "must-be-loved-by-everyone" complex.

I do not know...

 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
9. Who do you think Clinton is closer to financially? You or Mi$$?
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 06:27 AM
Mar 2015

You don't really think it's about "party", do you? That's for suckers.

Sienna86

(2,147 posts)
10. I prefer the retired lifestyle of another President, President Jimmy Carter
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 07:11 AM
Mar 2015

Tell me again that the Clinton's understand the plight of the middle-class.

tazkcmo

(7,286 posts)
13. Of course they do!
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 10:32 AM
Mar 2015

After all, they were broke when they were in the White House, struggling along like most Americans even with two incomes!

But seriously, they most certainly understand the plight of the middle class having played a role in causing it.

justhanginon

(3,287 posts)
12. Good advice for the debate. Here's what you do Mitt.
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 09:32 AM
Mar 2015

If Gov. Perry gives you any crap about being for the individual mandates in health care, just offer to bet him $10,000 that he is wrong. It'll work like a charm!

hlthe2b

(101,701 posts)
14. Bill Clinton has always had a deep seated need to be liked/loved that manifests often in impulsive
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 11:23 AM
Mar 2015

acts of many varieties (cough, cough)... I personally think it stems from his childhood insecurities and issues of father-abandonment, but regardless... This doesn't really surprise me and i don't make more of it than that...

Divernan

(15,480 posts)
20. You can't throw the New York Times under your bus, kiddo!
Sun Mar 29, 2015, 01:49 PM
Mar 2015

And the 2 reporters with bylines for this story? PATRICK HEALY and AMY CHOZICK - Over 4,500 previous reports published in the Times between them.

Healy is assigned to the Times' 2016 presidential team, so you'll be reading A LOT MORE OF HIS WORK. I hope he keeps up with comments on his work, so he can see how HRC supporters describe his work as "horseshit". Way to go in alienating the press against HRC! With fans like you, etc.

pkdu

(3,977 posts)
21. Hilarious ,..
Mon Mar 30, 2015, 04:47 AM
Mar 2015

Sources? Zero
Hair on fire response ? Complete.

And as for the NYTimes?..they lost me any many others with Judith Miller.

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