Where’s The ‘Beef’? Clinton’s Answer To Romney Snark

[babylonsister]

http://www.nationalmemo.com/wheres-the-beef-clintons-answer-to-romney-snark/

Where’s The ‘Beef’? Clinton’s Answer To Romney Snark
May 16th, 2012 7:17 am Joe Conason


snip//

But then Romney took the snark a bit further, as Nia-Malika Henderson noted in the Washington Post, when he insinuated that the president is still feuding with his Democratic predecessor.

“It’s enough to make you wonder if maybe it was a personal beef with the Clintons,” said Romney. ”Probably, it runs much deeper than that.”

So far Clinton hasn’t taken this bait, declining to respond directly even as he campaigns around the country in selected Democratic primaries. But a spokesman indicated that anyone wishing to understand the former president’s attitude toward Obama — and Romney — might consult a speech he delivered more recently than 1996. Specifically, his remarks at a fundraiser for Obama hosted by close Clinton friend Terry McAuliffe at the former Democratic Party chair’s home in McLean, VA, where he left no space for misinterpretation about his opinion of the man standing next to him:

“When you become President, your job is to explain where we are, say where you think we should go, have a strategy to get there, and execute it,” he began. “By that standard, Barack Obama deserves to be reelected President of the United States. And I’m going to tell you the only reason we’re even meeting here. I mean, this is crazy — he’s got an opponent who basically wants to do what they did before, on steroids {laughter} — which will get you the same consequences you got before, on steroids {more laughter}.” Clinton went on to endorse Obama’s “forward-looking” plans for economic renewal, first outlined in the presidential campaign four years ago, which were derailed by the financial crash in September 2008, “only seven weeks before the election.” Historically such collapses, noted Clinton, leave nations unable to achieve full economic recovery and job growth for as long as a decade — so “he’s beating the clock, not behind it.”

A few moments later, Obama replied by lauding Clinton’s “remarkable record” as president — and especially his ability to persuade Democrats, “at a time when, let’s face it, the Democratic Party was a little bit lost,” to “refocus not on ideology, not on abstractions…but on where people live, what they’re going through day to day.”

Whatever frictions were generated in 2008 by the bitter primary contest between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, both she and her husband set them aside soon afterward to work hard electing Obama and then seeking to help him in every possible way. Since leaving the White House, Bill Clinton has done his best to get along with Republicans as well as Democrats, in the interest of advancing his own broad goals for improving global health, reducing poverty, and preserving a liveable planet, among other things. But if he has a “beef” with anybody in this election year, that person assuredly is not Barack Obama.

[spooky3]

1. Romney is grasping at straws. N/t

[JNelson6563]

13. Trying to spin it into gold

[liberalnationalist]

14. uh

isn't that all SLICK WILLARD RAW MONEY does?

[cindyperry2010]

2. He had an opportunity with this speech to present policy views and what he wanted to do as President

he not surprisingly did neither. He sounded like a stuid gossip and nothing more

[DCKit]

3. RMoney's got NOTHING.

The first time he's asked to lay out his economic plan, it's over.

"Mr. Romney, tell us how you'd fix the economy"
"Why aren't we talking about jobs and the economy?"
"I just asked you that."
"No you didn't."

[cindyperry2010]

6. that is it right there

you hit the proverbial nail on the head

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

4. Rmoney thinks he can drive a wedge between Dems.

He's so desperate he'll try anything.

[irisblue]

5. tying clinton/carter to obama

his speech writers/strategists are trying to tie clinton hate to obama hate. their low information voters might fall for it.....after all, they are Rs.

[Ikonoklast]

9. And that is a strategy that could easily backfire.

Even hateful stupid people can remember that they were doing quite well financially during the Clinton years in office.

[Major Hogwash]

12. Even as Romney refuses to recognize the very existence of George W. Bush.

And give him credit for all of his accomplishments --- taking more vacation time off as President than any President in modern times, creating the worst economic disaster in 75 years, losing more jobs in 8 years than he created in 2 terms in the White House, starting 2 "no win, never-ending" wars, not going after Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora, not to mention stalling for more than a year and a half the creation of the Congressional committee to investigate what happened on 9/11, and then withholding 10s of 1000s of documents from that very committee, while saying that electing John Kerry may result in another attack from the same people they were no longer actively pursuing!!

You would have thought that the guy who was in charge that day would have been the first one to want to know how the attacks of 9/11 happened, on 9/12.
But, since Vice President Cheney was already in his bunker 20 minutes before the first plane hit the WTC tower, I think Bush already knew how it happened.

As it turns out, Bush's book, "A Charge To Keep" was a total misnomer for his time in office.

[NYC Liberal]

15. Not to mention that Clinton remains one of the most popular presidents

of the last several decades. He left office with a higher approval rating than St Ronnie did and I believe his average approval over 8 years was also higher.

So keep talking Mitt.

[Bake]

7. Rmoney reminds me of Richard Dreyfuss' character in The American President.

Serious times demand serious people, Mittens, and your five minutes are up.

Bake

[WI_DEM]

8. Mittens what about all the 'nice' things Santorum and Gingrich have said about you?

[Cosmocat]

10. The Big Dog - I left a balanced budget, security, peace and prosperity

for the country when I left the oval office, and within one year these morons had the whole country jacked up ...

Yeah, I have a personal beef with Barrack Obama ...

[xtraxritical]

11. I think you should use the sarcasm thingy after your beef with Obama thingy.

[Smilo]

16. That's the difference between grown-ups and

desperate neanderthals on the right.