BillaryCo Mob Stormtrooping in Iowa, Again
Patriot Games
'Billary': Bring Us Back
NewsMax.com Wires Wednesday, July 4, 2007
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The force dubbed "Billary"-the duo of former President
Clinton and his leading Democratic candidate wife-argued on Tuesday for a
third term in the White House, telling Iowa voters a return to the Clinton
years is the best remedy for the Bush era.
"Yesterday's news was pretty good," said Bill Clinton, taking a jab at
critics who call the former first couple old news.
In a joint appearance, the Clintons sought to give Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton the advantages of quasi-incumbency while portraying her as an agent
of change. It's a difficult balance in Iowa, site of the first caucus and
where Sen. Clinton faces a tough challenge from two fresher faces: Barack
Obama and John Edwards.
"I know that some of you are very excited about the fact that we have a
chance to make history together and elect the first woman president in the
United States," she said, drawing the most enthusiastic applause of her
half-hour speech. "Well, I'm excited by that, too. But I'm not running
because I'm a woman. I'm running because I think I'm the best qualified and
experienced person to hit the ground running in January 2009."
Her husband reminded the crowd of a couple of thousand at the University of
Iowa of the economic prosperity during his two terms and ticked off a list
of accomplishments on the environment, college aid and establishment of the
Family and Medical Leave Act.
"I know some people sort of say, 'Well, you know, look at them. They're
old,'" he said, as his wife smile sheepishly, put her hand over her brow and
shook her head. "They're sort of yesterday's news, you know. Well,
yesterday's news was pretty good."
The former president made sure to try to keep the focus on her, making a
glowing nine-minute introduction at the rally, then stepping off the stage
during her performance. She used her time to criticize President Bush's
record. The New York senator, born in the Chicago suburbs, also talked about
her family and Midwestern values.
The joint appearance during their three-day trip to Iowa came as Hillary
Clinton's aura of inevitability took a hit this week. Obama outraised her by
$10 million in second-quarter contributions that can be spent on the
Democratic primary contest.
The Clintons appearance also came six weeks after an internal campaign memo
contended that she should skip the Iowa caucuses and concentrate on other
early states where she has a better chance of winning. Clinton, who trails
2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards in Iowa polls, dismissed the
memo and said she would compete.
In her appearance, Hillary Clinton didn't shy from discussing her
controversial role as health policy adviser in his administration, saying
she is determined to make sure every American has quality, affordable health
care.
While Bill Clinton offered the highlights of his presidency, the lowlights
weren't far away.
In a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press, Hillary Clinton
drew a distinction between Bush's decision to commute the sentence of White
House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby-which she has harshly criticized-and her
husband's 140 pardons in his closing hours in office.
"I believe that presidential pardon authority is available to any president,
and almost all presidents have exercised it," Clinton told the AP. "This
(the Libby decision) was clearly an effort to protect the White House. ...
There isn't any doubt now, what we know is that Libby was carrying out the
implicit or explicit wishes of the vice president, or maybe the president as
well, in the further effort to stifle dissent."
At the rally, Bill Clinton also called his wife the most qualified and said
he watched her make a difference in people's lives as first lady in Arkansas
and the White House.
"We sort of changed roles now. For our first 20 some years we knew each
other, I was in politics and Hillary was a public servant without public
office," he said.
The Clintons made a point of refusing to publicly criticize her opponents in
the race.
"You don't have to be against anybody in the Democratic primary this time,"
she said. "But you will eventually have to make a choice, and I hope that I
can be your choice for this caucus."
The Clintons' Iowa tour was tightly scripted with limited media access. They
arrived Monday night for a rally on the Iowa State Fairgrounds, then spent
much of Tuesday morning out of public view. Campaign staff said they had
breakfast with more than 300 caucusgoers and stopped at a roadside Dairy
Queen where he had a chicken sandwich and she a Snickers Blizzard.