The Command Post - 2004 US Presidential Election - The Bush-Clinton White House Lovefest

June 15, 2004

Clinton | The Bush-Clinton White House Lovefest

Bill Clinton returned to the White House to be there for the unveiling of his official portrait — and heaping handfuls of praise hurled at him by President George Bush. (To see one artist’s view of Clinton click here. )

Here’s just a small part of it (we won’t use more because we don’t want to get diabetes):

GWB ON CLINTON: “”The years have done a lot to clarify the strengths of this man. As a candidate for any office, whether it be the state attorney general or the president, Bill Clinton showed incredible energy and great personal appeal.” And on Hillary:”Listen, New York politics is a serious business — it’s rough business. It takes an extraordinary person to campaign and win the United States Senate. She has proven herself more than equal to the challenge.”

CLINTON’S COMMENTS:”I’ve just been doing some interviews in connection with my book, and I told Mr. Rather yesterday, I said: ‘You know, most of the people I’ve known in this business, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, were good people, honest people, and they did what they thought was right. And I hope that I’ll live long enough to see American politics return to vigorous debates where we argue who’s right and wrong, not who’s good and bad.”

Then they all hugged (we guess..)

Posted by Joe Gandelman at June 15, 2004 11:55 AM | TrackBack

Comments

This surprises anyone?

Well, I guess it would surprise you if you thought that the Clintons were going to let Kerry f**k up Hillary’s shot at the White House in 2008.

Behold, as the All Powerful Billary remakes Bush’s image to make him more palatable to Democrats and Swing Voters, so that he can be re-elected and clear the boards for 2008.

(Espescially since Cheney most likely wont be interested in the nomination.

Posted by: eric at June 15, 2004 12:47 PM

yeah eric,
And Bush senior wasn’t going to let a Dole’s win happen and harm GWB’s chances?

Give it a rest. Clinton was quite complimetary of Bush Sr., at every occassion after the campaign, including for example the decdication fo Bush Sr.’s portrait.

Hey …and Clinton apparently likes GW Bush more than the Reagan family does!

Posted by: hans at June 15, 2004 12:58 PM

I enjoyed hearing GW’s comments. I enjoyed watching Clinton turn red with laughter. It was refreshing to imagine the room was just filled with Americans.

The room was filled with members of the former Clinton administration. Tough croud. Not present Al Gore.

It sure made GW look like the good guy we know he is. He will pay for it though. Al has been cast as the rabid pit bull, and he will do anything to get pet.

All in all it was a nice break from the sometimes contemptuous political rhetoric. I will watch it a few more times on C-Span till the sunshine fades and the cloud of political hostility returns.

Posted by: Agrippa at June 15, 2004 01:41 PM

The event illustrated W’s attitude toward the office of the presidency. If you couple his speech at the unveiling with his speech at the reagan funeral you’ll see a pattern of acting, well, presidential.

The unveiling was simply not the time to be a politician, there will be plenty of those. It was the time to be a gracious host and good winner. Bush acted as a gentleman should and that will redound to his credit and make his rabid critics look like the angry people the are.

the eulogy he delivered was “impersonal”. He spoke as the POTUS, not as a personal friend of Reagan. I am sure that W had plenty of personal interactions with Reagan but none of those made it into the speech. Instead Bush focused on the Public Reagan and let others share the personal insights. It was a bit stilted, I thought, but very, very presidential.

he did promise to bring respect back to the office and he has in spades. he promised a new tone and to the frustration of people like me he has avoided engaging in the mudslinging that has become the DC way of life.

Posted by: skip at June 15, 2004 02:06 PM

A rough draft of Bush’s November 2004 concession speach entitled “Why I wasn’t up to the job of POTUS”.

Posted by: Patriot at June 15, 2004 02:25 PM

GWB has class and it showed both in his eulogy of President Reagan and his comments at the unveiling of President Clinton and Hillary Clinton’s portraits yesterday at the White House. He promised to bring dignity to the Office of the President and he continues to adhere to that pledge to his credit and ours.

The remarks re: Clinton were gracious and complimentary. This is what is expected during such ceremonies. It makes those who cannot pass up firing a cheap shot - no matter how inappropriate the moment - look opportunistic and shallow.

Posted by: Jim at June 15, 2004 02:36 PM

Jim.

A Typical example is the Blatantly misnamed Patriot
posting above you.

Posted by: leaddog2 at June 15, 2004 04:32 PM

Skip

I recall at some Point President Bush saying he didn’t want to get caught up in the media spin cycle(a la Clinton), that it wasn’t presidential. I read two interveiws this weekend, one with Laura Bush and one with Condoleeza Rice. After reading these I am more sure than ever that he is the man for the job. Reading there words makes his Rabid Critics look all the more shallow.

Chads

Posted by: chads at June 15, 2004 05:10 PM

yeah eric, and Bush senior wasn’t going to let a Dole’s win happen and harm GWB’s chances?
The difference being that the existance of a “Bush Dynasty” that can control events is a figment of your imagination, which the Clintons are certainly in a position to cause problems for Kerry, especially by being friendly with his opponent.

Give it a rest.
Give WHAT a rest?

Hey …and Clinton apparently likes GW Bush more than the Reagan family does!
Ron Reagan Jr is NOT the entire “Reagan Family”
Besides which, so what?
This non-sequitor bullshit might work when you’re trying to argue with your friends at high school, but it doesn’t cut the mustard in the real world.

Posted by: eric at June 15, 2004 05:11 PM

Yes or no question: When Bush said all those nice things, was he lying?

Posted by: stan at June 16, 2004 03:32 AM

Yes, GWB was gracious and respectful, as was appropriate. But he must be a better speaker than folks give him credit for, as I fail to see the glowing compliments everyone else is hearing. The comments concerning BC can be summed up (with less flowery language) as “he enjoyed being the president, he was popular and energetic, he tried hard.” Concerning HC: “she’s a tough and smart woman.” None of these are particularly news, nor did he speak of any concrete accomplishments or successes other than just getting elected.

Posted by: submandave at June 16, 2004 10:23 AM

Eric says: The difference being that the existance of a “Bush Dynasty” that can control events is a figment of your imagination, which the Clintons are certainly in a position to cause problems for Kerry, especially by being friendly with his opponent.

Lol, try:
The difference being that the existance of a “Clinton Dynasty” that can control events is a figment of your imagination, which the Bushes were certainly in a position to cause problems for Dole, especially by being friendly with his opponent.

Give WHAT a rest?
Your failure to appreciate the obvious irony.

Ron Reagan Jr is NOT the entire “Reagan Family”
No, but Nancy Reagan’s official spokesman just yersterday also comndemned a pro-Bush add which laughably compared Reagan to Bush.

sorry you are so biased you don’t realize you could have interchanged Bush for Clinton there, but if you don’t know history perhaps you should keep the arguments at the local trailer park.

Posted by: Sarge at June 17, 2004 01:13 PM

I just wish McCain had kicked Bush’s ass in 2000, sent him back home to Texas then and spared us this horrible leadership. Then again, push polling people in South Carolina and saying that McCain has illegitimate black children is pretty effective. Although I think Republicans hit an all-time low with Saxby Chambliss and his race in Georgia.

Posted by: Max at June 17, 2004 03:28 PM