Posted on 06/20/2004 5:04:10 AM PDT by JesseHousman
Alec Russell in Little Rock reports on a remarkable comeback by the disgraced president whose memoirs are published next week.
Slick Willie is back. On the outskirts of Little Rock, the town that launched Bill Clinton on his roller-coaster presidential career, a banner signals that his presidential library is close to completion.
In a theatre near the hotel where Paula Jones, one of the many women linked to his colourful personal life, said he harassed her when he was governor, 1,000 Clinton fans cheered and booed at the "world premiere" of a film excoriating his inquisitors.
Bill Clinton at the unveiling of the Clinton portraits at the White House on Monday And then there is the book. After three and a half years of virtual "radio silence" Mr Clinton's distinctive "Aw shucks" tones resonated across selected airwaves in America yesterday as part of the pre-emptive drum roll of publicity before next week's publication of his memoirs.
For Democrats Mr Clinton's return to the limelight is akin to the Second Coming. The reappearance of the most successful Democrat since Franklin D Roosevelt is a reminder of happier times when Republicans were reduced to sniping at the White House from the sidelines.
President George W Bush's supporters are quick to point out it is also a reminder of the scandals that repelled Middle America, led to only the second presidential impeachment in American history, and nearly ended his presidency. They "and some Democrats" also mutter that Mr Clinton's Titanic personality will swamp the attempts by Senator John Kerry, the Democrats' rather austere presidential candidate, to court the public eye.
But in Mr Clinton's old Arkansas headquarters, Little Rock, a new phase of Clintonmania is gathering steam. It is as if the "Comeback Kid" is mounting yet another campaign, and in a sense he is, to try to redress the historical perceptions of his presidency, and also, his critics suggest, to have another stab at affecting a presidential race.
This week the Statehouse Convention Centre was humming with excitement. Waiters served barbecued chicken and ribs. Wine flowed, as did talk of penance and a new Democratic dawn.
"Arkansas is a pretty conservative state," said Van Spence, a 53-year-old Democratic stalwart.
"Almost everyone was pretty much embarrassed by Clinton's indiscretions. But time heals old wounds. We like our hometown boy. This may be his chance at redemption."
He and hundreds of others had gathered for the launch of The Hunting of the President, a documentary which turns the spotlight on Mr Clinton's many accusers.
Bush-bashing books may have replaced the anti-Clinton tomes in America's best-seller lists, but staunch Republicans are as adamant as ever that Mr Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky besmirched the White House and can never be forgiven.
Kathleen Parker, a columnist in the conservative Arkansas Democrat Gazette ridiculed the outpouring of Clinton nostalgia. "For reasons that escape some of us, the former president has Elvis drawing power and an indefatigable capacity for enduring adulation," she wrote.
"In the midst of this media orgy, the nation seems to have slipped into a narcoleptic amnesia. What impeachment? What shame? Only celebrity matters."
But Democrats lose little sleep over the potential rousing of Right-wingers on the grounds they will vote for Bush come-what-may. Rather they hope Mr Clinton may energise Democrats to turn out for Mr Kerry, who to date has fought a fairly leaden campaign.
"We used to say, Oh Bill, how could you give them (Republicans) this ammunition," said Margaret Schell, a psychologist at the film's launch, recalling the personal scandals that constantly nipped at Mr Clinton's heels.
"But it's a good thing to have him in the public eye. It will galvanise people. He connects so much better than Kerry. Kerry's message is strong but he can't be as quick-witted as Bill."
Mr Kerry's liberal record positions him to the Left of Mr Clinton, whose Centrism helped him to woo key Middle American votes, including in his backyard in the South. Their difference in style is more striking still, prompting speculation in Washington that the ponderous north-easterner may chafe at the inevitable comparisons with "Bubba".
James "Skip" Rutherford, the president of the Clinton presidential foundation, dismissed talk of Mr Kerry being overshadowed. "They said Ronald Reagan would overshadow Bush (the elder) in 1988 if he campaigned for him. It's a myth. My guess is that Kerry is tickled to death and that it doesn't hurt him."
But all this supposes that Mr Clinton, the ultimate operator, has only one goal.
As Republicans are quick to point out: might not a bit of him want Mr Kerry to lose, so his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, can be in place for a run in 2008?
That line says it all! He's baaaack!
Poor poor Kerry - does he know this yet? HEH HEH!
"As Republicans are quick to point out: might not a bit of him want Mr Kerry to lose, so his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, can be in place for a run in 2008?"
I firmly believe this is Clinton's motive. He has been named "Slick Willie" for good reason. Read about Warren Harding and his wife. I sometimes wonder if the Clintons' are the Hardings' reincarnated.
The fax machine at the ny slimes must be down. Check out the ass kicking they gave clinocchio's book. Its on Drudge. What I read of the review was the most ny slimes I've read in years. Its a fun read.
They must be trying to kill it before it eats up anymore of lurch's "momentum".
These people are indefensibly, willfully stupid. I remember Mathews holding a sort of town meeting with Clinton defenders after he got caught and they looked like idiots defending him and they knew it!
It's a friggin cult!
FDR's gotta be rolling in his grave over this comparison.
What a FUKin joke! It's KKKLintonMANIA only to the lefties, HELLywood and the pressWHORES!! Satan must be having a HEYDAY with his little puppet billy!!
In Arkansas, they could only come up with a thousand? The way democrats count, the number is probably half that.....
Even with a thousand, his popularity is dying in Arkansas...
Unfortunately for the dims, I don't believe he is actually running for President.
However, some of the items in his book were clearly placed there to placate and put in a better light his wife, Hillary, for her 2008 run. (she was mad and horrified, counseling, sleeping on the couch--all that total rubbish about a woman who had enabled and shielded his zipper problems for years)
don't be too optimistic. Gore was essentially running for Clinton's third term, and he won the popular vote. Clinton's favorable numbers have risen since he left office.
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