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Bill Clinton: 5 reasons he is helping Obama

Four years ago, former President Clinton got his knuckles rapped for calling Sen. Barack Obama's presidential aspirations a "fairy tale." Now the 42nd president is appearing on the stump with No. 44. Here are five reasons for Mr. Clinton to go all out for the newest member of the Presidents Club.

5. Help boost Clinton’s own legacy as president

Andy Nelson/The Christian Science Monitor/File
President Bill Clinton listens to speakers at a Rose Garden event Friday where he signed the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 in Washington.

  • By Linda Feldmann Staff writer

As Clinton goes to bat for Obama, he can burnish the positive memories of his eight years in office, during the go-go ‘90s. Over time, public assessments of ex-presidents tend to improve, and Clinton is no exception. In March 2011, the Pew Research Center found 67 percent of the public held an overall opinion of Clinton that was either “very favorable” or “mostly favorable,” up from 46 percent in December 2002, almost two years after he left office.

Opinion on Clinton while he was president was sharply polarized, but in retrospect, many Americans recall that period as one of peace and prosperity. The unpleasant memories of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and impeachment have faded. And as an elder statesman, Clinton can adopt an air of sagacity as he cautions voters not to be impatient with the slow economic recovery.

“If you go back 500 years, whenever a country's financial system collapses, it takes between 5 and 10 years to get back to full employment,” Clinton told the donors in Terry McAuliffe’s backyard April 29. “If you go back for the last 200 years, when buildings had been widely owned by individuals and companies, if there's a mortgage collapse it almost always takes 10 years. He's beating the clock, not behind it. Don't listen to those Republicans. We are beating the clock.”

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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