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The Bubba Factor, And Other Maladroit Clintonisms
Captain's Quarters ^ | Dec. 31, 2007 | Ed Morrissey

Posted on 12/31/2007 6:51:20 AM PST by jdm

The Politico notes that Bill Clinton has fallen back on Bubbalistic campaigning in Iowa. The homespun wisdom of the former Rhodes scholar comes along with his wife's various regional accents, but as Ben Smith notes, usually much farther away from the press:

Before he was a silver-haired elder statesman, ex-president, and globe-trotting do-gooder, Bill Clinton was Bubba.

And out in rural Western Iowa, Bubba is back. ... While his speech differed little from the one he gives in upscale audiences, his presence there indicates both the potential his wife’s campaign sees in the West and the fact that the former president retains what many once saw as his basic political gift – his ability to connect to the small-town voters whom his party had lost, and to allow them to identify with him.

It also allows the media to lose sight of Bill. Smith noted that only one other reporter made his way to Cherokee to listen to the speech. Given the couple of items Smith notes, the Clinton campaign probably made the right choice. For instance, the blatantly racist argument that a Clinton campaigner made in Cherokee would probably not play well in the major media outlets:

In Cherokee, one Clinton precinct captain who asked that her name not be used questioned his prospects: “We’ve got to keep an eye on electability,” she said. “Is America ready for a black president?”

According to the Clintons, Maya Angelou, and Andrew Young, we've already had one -- the same man who traveled to Cherokee. Oh, wait, apparently she meant someone who actually is black, like Barack Obama, rather than someone whose upbringing apparently made him a poor black child from Hope, or the candidate who affects Southern accents when speaking to congregations at black churches. If the media caught the Clinton team questioning whether a black man should get nominated for a major-party ticket, it might create a huge political problem for Hillary. Good thing she hid Bill in Cherokee.

That made this throwaway line a little more forgettable, in which Bill came to praise Mike Huckabee and not bury him:

“We grew up in an oral culture and we like to laugh,” the former president said.

Next memo from Hillary to Bill will include an instruction to remove the word oral from the dictionary, permanently.

The Bubba persona, like Hillary's accents, are affectations for what the campaign sees as the rubes in the sticks. This kind of posturing worked well in an era where mass communications remained in the hands of a few, and where the lack of reporters meant that no one heard what was being said. This kind of politicking indicates that the Clintons may not have fully comprehended how much communications have changed politics since 1992.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: alexisherman; bernardschwartz; billburton; billkennedy; binliu; brianross; brucelindsey; bubba; charlietrie; chinagate; clinton; collui; craiglivingstone; davidchang; davidkendall; davidrosen; davidwang; dwightholton; edrendell; ericholder; garysmith; haroldickes; hazeloleary; hillary; howardwolfson; hoytzia; irasockowitz; irenewu; jamesriady; jamesrubin; jamiegorelick; janehuang; janetreno; jeffeller; jenniferoconnor; jiangzemin; jimlevin; jishengde; johndeutch; johnhuang; johnnychung; johnpodesta; josecabrera; josephlandon; kellycraighead; keshizhan; lannydavis; lippobank; lippogroup; lippopacific; loral; lynncutler; mackmclarty; manlinfoung; mariahsia; markgearan; markjimenez; markmiddleton; marvinrosen; mochtarriady; nancyhernreich; nannanxu; neilegglseston; nglapseng; noralum; normanhsu; patsythomasson; peterpaul; rickiseidman; robertmeyerhoff; rogertamraz; ronbrown; sandyberger; sidneyblumenthal; sisterping; stephanopoulos; tedsioeng; tendooto; tongsunpark; vincefoster; w88; wangjun; wangmeitrie; williampeh

1 posted on 12/31/2007 6:51:21 AM PST by jdm
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To: jdm

2 posted on 12/31/2007 6:58:57 AM PST by TornadoAlley3 ( An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping that it will eat him last..)
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To: jdm

The Clintons are in bs mode now. Since they can’t really fight negative publicity in public; they are going to join it and make sure you know it’s alright for them to screw everything up because they are so smart and only they can help America.

Yeah right, help America right into the dumpster.


3 posted on 12/31/2007 7:01:28 AM PST by freekitty ((May the eagles long fly our beautiful and free American sky.))
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To: jdm
Why is it a problem for Republicans to fundraise and speak in churches... while the Democrats seem to have no problem fundraising and campaigning in churches...

Double Standard

4 posted on 12/31/2007 7:01:59 AM PST by xtinct (I was the next door neighbor kid's imaginary friend.)
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To: jdm

Like, noway, Like, I'm not, Like "outhouse trash" fer-sure!

5 posted on 12/31/2007 7:05:39 AM PST by jws3sticks (Hillary can take a very long walk on a very short pier, anytime, and the sooner the better!)
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To: jdm
"This kind of politicking indicates that the Clintons may not have fully comprehended how much communications have changed politics since 1992."

I think this is a very accurate statement. This explains many of the mis-steps the Clintons have made. Both of them still think they can say anything and won't be questioned on it. Neither seems to comprehend that statements, (like "I was always against the war") can be googled and verified or discounted by anyone in a matter of seconds now.

6 posted on 12/31/2007 7:06:33 AM PST by carolinablonde (Proud member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy)
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To: jdm

The 2008 election hinges on the “ponytail guy” vote.


7 posted on 12/31/2007 7:15:49 AM PST by InvisibleChurch ( my favorite palindrome ... “a man, a plan, free republic”)
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To: jws3sticks

I like to think I’m not one of the tin foil hat guys that haunt this site, but doesn’t Chelsea look like Webb Hubbell?


8 posted on 12/31/2007 7:52:48 AM PST by don'tbedenied
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To: jdm; raygun

from the Ed Morrissey’s outstanding article....

“The Bubba persona, like Hillary’s accents, are affectations for what the campaign sees as the rubes in the sticks.”

from Chapter 23 “Evil”, Bastiat - Economic Harmonies...

“Everything about socialism is sham and affectation.”

more here...

http://www.econlib.org/library/Bastiat/basHar.html

Thanks to FReeper raygun for the link.


9 posted on 12/31/2007 8:11:26 AM PST by PGalt
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To: InvisibleChurch

“the 2008 election hinges on the “ponytail guy” vote.”

now that’s a definite barfer.


10 posted on 12/31/2007 8:40:20 AM PST by ripley
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To: don'tbedenied

but doesn’t Chelsea look like Webb Hubbell?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There appears to be some resemblance but Webb was better looking than Chelsea.


11 posted on 12/31/2007 10:02:13 AM PST by RipSawyer (Does anyone still believe this is a free country?)
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To: don'tbedenied

don’tbedenied said “I like to think I’m not one of the tin foil hat guys that haunt this site, but doesn’t Chelsea look like Webb Hubbell?”

You may be right the problem I have is that I can’t look at that photo long enough to tell for sure. After about 5 or 10 seconds the stomach starts to turn and I have to turn away. After all I like this keyboard and don’t want to have to replace it.

Kirby


12 posted on 12/31/2007 10:22:28 AM PST by KirbDog
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