By Jon Swaine
Bill Clinton warns voters that a Mitt Romney presidency would isolate families
Left: U.S. President Barack Obama on stage with
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton
n an extraordinary prime-time speech to the Democratic party convention in North Carolina, the former president urged Americans to “renew the President's contract” despite their frustrations with his performance.
Frequently veering off his marathon-length script to passionately endorse his Democratic successor, Mr Clinton said while Mr Obama would eventually rescue them from the “total mess” he inherited, his Republican challenger would turn the US into a “winner-take-all society” and leave them behind.
“Are we where we want to be? No,” said Mr Clinton, his voice hoarse by the end of his speech. “Is the President satisfied? No. Are we better off than we were when he took office, with an economy in free fall, losing 750,000 jobs a month? The answer is yes”.
Attempting to lend some of his own folksy charm to Mr Obama, who is frequently criticized as an aloof professor, Mr Clinton hailed him as “a man whose own life has known its fair share of adversity and uncertainty” and “a man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama”.
“I want to nominate a man cool on the outside but burning for America on the inside,” he said, styling Mr Obama as “the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party” and of his popular legacy, while contrasting him with Mr Romney, a multi-millionaire former private equity boss.
Claiming that Mr Obama’s plan “cuts the debt, honours our values, and brightens the future for our children”, Mr Clinton said only the Democrats were committed to protecting the middle class and repeatedly attacked Mr Romney and his running-mate, Paul Ryan, by name.
“My fellow Americans, you have to decide what kind of country you want to live in,” he said in a 48-minute speech that brought thousands of supporters to their feet.
“If you want a 'you’re on your own', 'winner-take-all' society, you should support the Republican ticket. If you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities – a 'we’re all in it together' society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden”.
Mr Clinton defended his successor against a string of attacks from his opponents – ranging from his passage of controversial health care reform, his plans to reform welfare for the elderly and poor, and his plans to cut America's $1.2 trillion budget deficit in a bid to reduce its $16 trillion debt.
But he reserved special scorn for the Republicans' stated priority to oust Mr Obama since he took office in 2009. “Though I often disagree with Republicans, I never learned to hate them the way the far right that now controls their party seems to hate President Obama and the Democrats,” he said.
Mr Clinton, who rates more popular than Mr Obama after generally being forgiven for his past indiscretions, claims Mr Obama could put the country back on track to the balanced budgets and millions of new jobs seen under his leadership in the 1990s.
He typically paints Mr Romney as a throwback to the days of George W. Bush, who is blamed for America's ongoing economic woe by more voters than is Mr Obama. Yet in his speech, Mr Clinton attempted to shame today's Republican leaders by contrasting their records with those of Mr Bush and Dwight Eisenhower, whom he praised for achievements in education and infrastructure respectively.
“Unfortunately, the faction that now dominates the Republican Party doesn’t see it that way,” said Mr Clinton. “They think government is the enemy, and compromise is weakness”.
Mr Clinton delivered his speech in the keynote slot typically reserved for the vice president. Mr Obama's need for his predecessor to style him as the heir to Clintonism, four years after campaigning as the anti-Clinton, highlights the weakness of his position as he fights to keep his job.
Mr Obama has worked to repair the damage to their relationship caused by his defeat of the former president's wife, Hillary, in 2008's bitter party primary, by seeking his counsel over rounds of golf.
Mr Clinton on Wednesday night paid tribute to the President's reconciliation with Mrs Clinton as proof of his desire for co-operation. “He appointed Cabinet members who supported Hillary in the primaries,” he said. “Heck, he even appointed Hillary!”
Becoming increasingly emotional as he spoke, Mr Clinton assured his adoring audience that they would see good times once more. “I love our country – and I know we’re coming back,” he said. “For more than 200 years, through every crisis, we’ve always come out stronger than we went in.”
The former president's remarks came after it was announced that Mr Obama's address, which had been scheduled for a 74,000-capacity American football stadium, would now be held in a nearby indoor arena that holds 20,200.
While aides blamed “severe weather forecasts”, Republicans pounced on earlier reports that Mr Obama was struggling to fill the stadium to claim he had suffered a “speech downgrade” from 2008, when he accepted his party's nomination by addressing an 84,000-capacity stadium in Colorado.
"After promising to speak at Bank of America stadium rain or shine, Team Obama is moving inside," said Reince Priebus, the Republican chairman. "Troubles filling the seats?" Republicans have been careful to use the stadium's full name in a bid to tie Mr Obama to the $45 billion government bail-out of the bank amid the financial crisis.
Angry Obama officials pointed to forecasts of storms and insisted that they had a waiting list of 19,000 supporters wanting tickets. However, the impression left by the move was potentially damaging.
It emerged last week that regional Democratic parties had been given dozens of tickets to hand to activists at late notice. The party has also given thousands of tickets to the public, leading to Republicans obtaining some and gleefully posting pictures online.
Several forecasts did show a 20 to 40 per cent risk of thunder and lightning tonight in Charlotte, where delegates and the media have been drenched by flash downpours this week. But Brad Panovich, the chief meteorologist for WCNC, the local NBC television station, said the “severe threat†level was "almost zero".
Source: The Telegraph
“My fellow Americans, you have to decide what kind of country you want to live in,” he said in a 48-minute speech that brought thousands of supporters to their feet.
“If you want a 'you’re on your own', 'winner-take-all' society, you should support the Republican ticket. If you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities – a 'we’re all in it together' society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden”.
Mr Clinton defended his successor against a string of attacks from his opponents – ranging from his passage of controversial health care reform, his plans to reform welfare for the elderly and poor, and his plans to cut America's $1.2 trillion budget deficit in a bid to reduce its $16 trillion debt.
But he reserved special scorn for the Republicans' stated priority to oust Mr Obama since he took office in 2009. “Though I often disagree with Republicans, I never learned to hate them the way the far right that now controls their party seems to hate President Obama and the Democrats,” he said.
Mr Clinton, who rates more popular than Mr Obama after generally being forgiven for his past indiscretions, claims Mr Obama could put the country back on track to the balanced budgets and millions of new jobs seen under his leadership in the 1990s.
He typically paints Mr Romney as a throwback to the days of George W. Bush, who is blamed for America's ongoing economic woe by more voters than is Mr Obama. Yet in his speech, Mr Clinton attempted to shame today's Republican leaders by contrasting their records with those of Mr Bush and Dwight Eisenhower, whom he praised for achievements in education and infrastructure respectively.
“Unfortunately, the faction that now dominates the Republican Party doesn’t see it that way,” said Mr Clinton. “They think government is the enemy, and compromise is weakness”.
Mr Clinton delivered his speech in the keynote slot typically reserved for the vice president. Mr Obama's need for his predecessor to style him as the heir to Clintonism, four years after campaigning as the anti-Clinton, highlights the weakness of his position as he fights to keep his job.
Mr Obama has worked to repair the damage to their relationship caused by his defeat of the former president's wife, Hillary, in 2008's bitter party primary, by seeking his counsel over rounds of golf.
Mr Clinton on Wednesday night paid tribute to the President's reconciliation with Mrs Clinton as proof of his desire for co-operation. “He appointed Cabinet members who supported Hillary in the primaries,” he said. “Heck, he even appointed Hillary!”
Becoming increasingly emotional as he spoke, Mr Clinton assured his adoring audience that they would see good times once more. “I love our country – and I know we’re coming back,” he said. “For more than 200 years, through every crisis, we’ve always come out stronger than we went in.”
The former president's remarks came after it was announced that Mr Obama's address, which had been scheduled for a 74,000-capacity American football stadium, would now be held in a nearby indoor arena that holds 20,200.
While aides blamed “severe weather forecasts”, Republicans pounced on earlier reports that Mr Obama was struggling to fill the stadium to claim he had suffered a “speech downgrade” from 2008, when he accepted his party's nomination by addressing an 84,000-capacity stadium in Colorado.
"After promising to speak at Bank of America stadium rain or shine, Team Obama is moving inside," said Reince Priebus, the Republican chairman. "Troubles filling the seats?" Republicans have been careful to use the stadium's full name in a bid to tie Mr Obama to the $45 billion government bail-out of the bank amid the financial crisis.
Angry Obama officials pointed to forecasts of storms and insisted that they had a waiting list of 19,000 supporters wanting tickets. However, the impression left by the move was potentially damaging.
It emerged last week that regional Democratic parties had been given dozens of tickets to hand to activists at late notice. The party has also given thousands of tickets to the public, leading to Republicans obtaining some and gleefully posting pictures online.
Several forecasts did show a 20 to 40 per cent risk of thunder and lightning tonight in Charlotte, where delegates and the media have been drenched by flash downpours this week. But Brad Panovich, the chief meteorologist for WCNC, the local NBC television station, said the “severe threat†level was "almost zero".
Source: The Telegraph
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