By Hunter Walker 9/25/12 9:44am

’90s Nostalgia

Mitt Romney (Photo: Getty)

Mitt Romney Is Waiting for His Bill Clinton ‘Bounce’

Mitt Romney spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in Midtown this morning. He began his remarks by referencing the address Bill Clinton gave at the Democratic National Convention earlier this month. Mr. Clinton’s speech was widely touted as one of the highlights of the DNC and was seen as one of the main factors behind a subsequent surge in the polls for President Barack Obama. Mr. Romney, who was introduced by Mr. Clinton at the CGI meeting, said he hoped the “kind words” from the ex-president would give him the same kind of boost President Obama got after the DNC.

“Thank you, Mr. President.  I appreciate the kind words and your invitation here today,” Mr. Romney said to Mr. Clinton. “If there’s one thing we’ve learned this election season, it’s that a few words from Bill Clinton can do any man a lot of good. After that introduction, I guess all I have to do is wait a day or two for the bounce.”  Read More

By Hunter Walker 9/10/12 3:29pm

Bubba

Bill Clinton (Photo: Getty)

Bill Clinton Manages to Bring Obama and Romney Together (For a Day)

Fresh off his speech at the Democratic National Convention, former President Bill Clinton announced that both President Barack Obama and his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, will attend and address the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative later this month. Mr. Clinton established CGI in 2005 in order to bring world leaders together “to create and implement solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.” In his announcement about the presidential candidates’ attendance at the annual meeting, Mr. Clinton said their appearances exemplified the organization’s non-partisan spirit.

“I’m grateful that President Obama and Governor Romney are taking time to join leaders from all parts of society who choose to address our greatest global challenges through the Clinton Global Initiative,” Mr. Clinton said. “CGI is built on the spirit of non-partisan, cross-sector collaborations that drive action.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 9/06/12 8:27am

big dog

Bill Clinton (Photo: Getty)

Associated Press Fact Checks Bill Clinton’s Speech

Move aside Paul Ryan, it looks like even the most widely-praised of speeches can be called out a few times.

To wit, Matt Apuzzo, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press reporter, took a thorough look at former President Bill Clinton’s fiery address last night and said certain segments were “wishful thinking at best” and “either cherry-picked facts or mischaracterized” the Republican position. The wire service even brought up Mr. Clinton’s Monica Lewinsky scandal and compared that to him calling out Mitt Romney’s campaign for its own lack of honesty. Read More

By Colin Campbell and Hunter Walker 9/05/12 10:46pm

Don't Believe The Hype

(Photo: Getty)

Rumors Bill Clinton Would Cause DNC Drama Were Greatly Exaggerated

CHARLOTTE, NC — Rumored drama and tension between former President Bill Clinton and the Obama administration has long been an object of fascination among the country’s political chattering classes, so much so that Mr. Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention tonight was widely hyped as a potential obstacle for the Obama campaign. However, despite reports the Obama campaign didn’t see the text of Mr. Clinton’s remarks and feared he might wander off message, the DNC distributed advance copies of Mr. Clinton’s speech and, though he made many ad libs, Mr. Clinton effusively praised the President and aggressively attacked Mitt Romney’s positions on healthcare, debt reduction and job creation.

Early on in his speech, Mr. Clinton directly addressed the source of reports of his strained relationship with Mr. Obama–fallout from the 2008 Democratic primary between Mr. Obama and his wife, Hillary Clinton. Mr. Clinton dismissed the idea there was any lingering ill will from that race by pointing out President Obama appointed Ms. Clinton and several of her supporters to positions in his administration.

“President Obama appointed several members of his cabinet, even though they supported Hillary in the primary,” he said to thunderous applause from the audience. “Heck, he even appointed Hillary!” Read More

By Hunter Walker 8/08/12 9:00am

’90s Nostalgia

clintonfeatured

Clinton Says Romney Campaign’s Welfare Reform Attacks Are ‘Not True’

After the Romney campaign launched a series of attacks yesterday accusing President Barack Obama of trying to “gut” President Bill Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform, President Clinton defended his successor with a late night press release.

“Governor Romney released an ad today alleging that the Obama administration had weakened the work requirements of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. That is not true,” President Clinton said. Read More

By Hunter Walker 8/07/12 4:37pm

Beef

President Obama (Photo: Getty)

Obama Campaign Calls Team Romney’s Welfare Reform Attack ‘Completely False’

This morning, the Romney campaign began what they described as a weeklong offensive accusing President Barack Obama of trying to “gut” President Bill Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform plan. Team Obama fired back this afternoon by bringing out Obama For America Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter and President Clinton’s former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta for a press conference call in which they described the Romney campaign’s welfare attack as “completely false.” Mr. Podesta also said he spoke to President Clinton about the situation and they were both in agreement that President Obama’s policies are “consistent” with the original vision for welfare reform. Read More

By Colin Campbell 6/11/12 11:03am

42 for spm

(Photo: Getty)

Big Dog Endorses Sean Patrick Maloney

Sean Patrick Maloney, who served as an adviser to President Bill Clinton between 1997 and 2000, just got his former boss’s backing for his congressional campaign. Mr. Maloney is running for the Democratic nomination to take on GOP Rep. Nan Hayworth in November, and the public support from a popular Democrat like Mr. Clinton is a nice thing to have in his back pocket.

“I support Sean because I know he’ll be an outstanding member of Congress,” Mr. Clinton said in a statement. “Sean worked closely with me in the White House to create jobs, grow our economy and balance the budget. It’s time to bring a common sense approach back to Congress, and Sean Patrick Maloney is the right Democrat to help restore the economy and get people back to work in the Hudson Valley.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 6/05/12 1:15pm

A.G. For B.O.

(Photo: Getty)

Schneiderman Says ‘Thanks, But No Thanks’ to Romney

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman introduced former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama in New York last night, and he made a passionate case for the need to defeat the “Romney/Republican agenda” and why the American electorate will say, “Thanks, but no thanks” to a de facto third term for George W. Bush.

“We will continue and build upon the progress President Obama has made,” Mr. Schneiderman argued. “We will show the American people that when there is a Democrat in the White House, a strong and fair economy is possible. It’s possible because we’ve done it, and we’ll do it again.”

In turn, both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama heaped praise on Mr. Schneiderman as well. Read More