Parkbandit
06-07-2012, 01:54 PM
Bill Clinton (http://www.politico.com/tag/billclinton)’s off-message musings in recent days on Mitt Romney (http://www.politico.com/tag/mittromney), taxes and the state of the economy prompted a series of urgent and agitated calls between senior aides to both Clinton and President Barack Obama.
In the past, these kinds of complaints have often prompted Clinton lieutenants to kindly suggest that the Obama (http://www.politico.com/tag/barackobama) team can go to hell: a former president can, should and will say what he wants.
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Clinton: Not Obama employee
Clinton: Bain record ‘sterling’
This time was different: Clinton’s team was as aghast as Obama’s at how the boss had wandered blithely into remarks that left even sympathetic listeners wondering what exactly he was getting at. He also gave gleeful Republicans (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/76960.html) an opening to skewer Obama with a popular Democrat’s own words.
(Also on POLITICO: Clinton's 2012 track record (http://www.politico.com/p/pages/bill-clinton))
Clinton, in a ritual that would be familiar to anyone who has worked for him during the past 20 years, protested that his words were being wrested from context and blamed a manipulative news media for stirring up trouble to satisfy its own lust for chaos and conflict.
But his own team, and eventually Clinton himself, agreed there was no choice but to issue embarrassing what-the-former-president-meant-to-say (http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/06/clinton-revises-and-extends-125383.html)clarifications, which were crafted in close consultation with senior Obama aides at the White House and campaign headquarters in Chicago, according to people involved in the negotiations.
(PHOTOS: Bill Clinton’s career (http://www.politico.com/gallery/2012/06/photos-bill-clinton/000187-002215.html))
The clarifications did little to quiet the political speculation industry’s preoccupation with what Clinton was really up to: Trying to send a brushback pitch of some kind to Obama? Trying to win personal favor among Wall Street Republicans? Or perhaps engaged in some carom-shot calculation to help Hillary Clinton if she runs for president in 2016.
The genuine explanation, say people close to Clinton, is the same one that usually is the case: He was simply saying what he really thought, but in fuzzy, free-associating language almost guaranteed to produce controversy.
This was a habit that Clinton usually learned to control as president. But the circumstances now are much different.
Clinton, say associates, while mentally sharp, is older and a step off his political game, less attuned to the need for clarity and message-discipline during interviews.
“He’s 65 years old,” said one adviser, explaining how Clinton in a CNBC interview managed to say that the economy was in recession when it is not.
At the same time, aides had to read Clinton’s comments on CNBC several times about the right timing for repealing the Bush tax cuts for top earners before they could fashion a response to reporters and the upset Obama team about what he was getting at.
Clinton said delaying any changes in the Bush tax cuts was “probably the best thing to do right now,” since there’s no real chance of a larger-scale fiscal reform deal until 2013. That was easily — if inaccurately — taken as an endorsement of the Republican position on taxes. Instead, Clinton believes that the tax cuts should be allowed to lapse over the long term.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77147.html#ixzz1x7w3J8i4
I have no idea what this is going to look like when I hit the Submit button.. but whatever...
I love how they are blaming what he said about Romney, taxes and Obama as "old age".
In the past, these kinds of complaints have often prompted Clinton lieutenants to kindly suggest that the Obama (http://www.politico.com/tag/barackobama) team can go to hell: a former president can, should and will say what he wants.
Continue Reading (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77147.html#continue)Text Size
-
+
reset
Clinton: Not Obama employee
Clinton: Bain record ‘sterling’
This time was different: Clinton’s team was as aghast as Obama’s at how the boss had wandered blithely into remarks that left even sympathetic listeners wondering what exactly he was getting at. He also gave gleeful Republicans (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/76960.html) an opening to skewer Obama with a popular Democrat’s own words.
(Also on POLITICO: Clinton's 2012 track record (http://www.politico.com/p/pages/bill-clinton))
Clinton, in a ritual that would be familiar to anyone who has worked for him during the past 20 years, protested that his words were being wrested from context and blamed a manipulative news media for stirring up trouble to satisfy its own lust for chaos and conflict.
But his own team, and eventually Clinton himself, agreed there was no choice but to issue embarrassing what-the-former-president-meant-to-say (http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/06/clinton-revises-and-extends-125383.html)clarifications, which were crafted in close consultation with senior Obama aides at the White House and campaign headquarters in Chicago, according to people involved in the negotiations.
(PHOTOS: Bill Clinton’s career (http://www.politico.com/gallery/2012/06/photos-bill-clinton/000187-002215.html))
The clarifications did little to quiet the political speculation industry’s preoccupation with what Clinton was really up to: Trying to send a brushback pitch of some kind to Obama? Trying to win personal favor among Wall Street Republicans? Or perhaps engaged in some carom-shot calculation to help Hillary Clinton if she runs for president in 2016.
The genuine explanation, say people close to Clinton, is the same one that usually is the case: He was simply saying what he really thought, but in fuzzy, free-associating language almost guaranteed to produce controversy.
This was a habit that Clinton usually learned to control as president. But the circumstances now are much different.
Clinton, say associates, while mentally sharp, is older and a step off his political game, less attuned to the need for clarity and message-discipline during interviews.
“He’s 65 years old,” said one adviser, explaining how Clinton in a CNBC interview managed to say that the economy was in recession when it is not.
At the same time, aides had to read Clinton’s comments on CNBC several times about the right timing for repealing the Bush tax cuts for top earners before they could fashion a response to reporters and the upset Obama team about what he was getting at.
Clinton said delaying any changes in the Bush tax cuts was “probably the best thing to do right now,” since there’s no real chance of a larger-scale fiscal reform deal until 2013. That was easily — if inaccurately — taken as an endorsement of the Republican position on taxes. Instead, Clinton believes that the tax cuts should be allowed to lapse over the long term.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77147.html#ixzz1x7w3J8i4
I have no idea what this is going to look like when I hit the Submit button.. but whatever...
I love how they are blaming what he said about Romney, taxes and Obama as "old age".