Bill Loves Barack, Sort Of

I used to love Bill Clinton, love the man (as most people outside the United States did).

And then his reprehensible tactics during the Democratic Primaries damaged his legacy in a way that he may never recover from. I completely turned against him (as, I am sure, did a lot of people) which is why tonight's speech was so important towards rehabilitating his image.

He had to think beyond Hillary's possible candidacy in 2012, beyond making himself look good, beyond the hurt and anger he still reportedly feels, and use this moment to bring the party together in support of the nominee, not the nominee he wishes was standing there.

So the once great Bill Clinton started off lukewarm about our boy Barack Obama.

Instead he talked about how much he loved Joe Biden.

He also spoke about how great the eight years before the George W. Bush period were, which, you know, just happened to be the time when he was President. Nicely done. With Bill, it's always about Bill.

He talked at length about Hillary.

Just like Hillary is going to claim healthcare in the way that Al Gore claimed the environment, Bill is going after epidemics (malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS).

After all of that, he did throw his full, unqualified support behind Barack.

He was passionate, funny, charismatic. He got the crowd pumped in a way that Hillary didn't quite manage the night before. He even gave us a civics lesson while he was at it. No one can work a crowd like Bill Clinton.

Just Bill being Bill.

Of course, I'm not sure how this is going to translate a couple of weeks from now when they need feet on the ground to stem Barack's falling poll numbers. According to The New York Times Bill is still mad at the Obama campaign and is having a hard time letting go. Oh, he's not actually going to be in attendance when Barack speaks tomorrow.

Just Bill being Bill.

Hillary got off a corker of a line last night when she saluted her "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuit."

Bill got an incredible line of his own off tonight when he spoke about how the people of the world were inspired by "the power of our example, not the example of our power."

Just Bill being Bill.

LINKS

NYT: Bill Clinton Says Obama Ready to Lead