A sad appearance by Bill Clinton

Owen Jones’ criticism of Bill Clinton giving a poison-pill speech in Michigan, allegedly to help Kamala Harris get elected, is understandable and accurate.¹

Still, on this one, my reaction is more of a sad feeling. One, because Clinton comes off as frail in this one and doesn’t seem to clearly understand what he’s talking about and why. His sentences aren’t garbled. But he unfortunately looks like he came out to deliver a speech from the teleprompter and doesn’t quite understand how he’s bound to come across. And his babbling about King David and “Judea and Samaria” is pretty pitiful.

The one time I saw Bill Clinton give a speech live and in person was at the 2009 Netroots Nation convention in Pittsburgh. When he started his speech, I was struck by how flat he sounded, because he was obviously known for inspiring speeches. Aaron Banks reported at the time what happened next:

The drama kicked off when progressive and GLBT activist Lane Hudson shouted out “Mr. President, will you call for a repeal of DOMA [the Defense of Marriage Act] and Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Right now?”

President Clinton’s calm demeanor quickly turned stormy and the crowd witnessed a flash of the legendary Clinton temper as he shot back at Hudson in defense of his record:

[“]You want to talk about Don't Ask Don't Tell, I'll tell you exactly what happened. You couldn't deliver me any support in the Congress, and they voted by a veto-proof majority in both houses against my attempt to let gays serve in the military, and the media supported them. They raised all kinds of devilment. And all most of you did was to attack me instead of getting me some support in the Congress. Now that's the truth. [“]

It was Clinton at his best, showing passion and just enough restraint, and it won the crowd to his side. The speech ended in a standing ovation and seemed only to be missing the traditional playing of “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” as he waved to the crowd and excited the stage. Participants later gave a spirited rendition around 2:00am at a local karaoke bar.² [my emphasis]

I assumed from that speech that he started off not quite sure what kind of crowd he was addressing. Was it standard liberals, aspiring Democratic Party functionaries, or grouchy leftie activist? When Banks interrupted him, Clinton started emotionally engaging with the crowd. That gave him a sense of the audience and then started talking like he was addressing left-leaning Democratic activists who actually wanted to accomplish things. And the crowd responded positively. This was 2009 before the realization had set in that Obama really was leaning toward a conservative approach rather than the hope-and-change attitude he projected in his 2008 campaign.

Ryan Grim in his book We’ve Got People (2019) gives a good account of how the activist base pushed back on Obama’s conservative tilt. Including how Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House pushed Obama’s team to actually get the “Obamacare” health insurance plan passed, which wound up being one of Obama’s most popular, effective, and enduring programs.

Anyone slightly to the left of center has found plenty of reasons to be frustrated with her on various issues since. But she came through on that one, and seriously tried to get the “public option” feature enacted, which failed to pass the Senate thanks to the vote against it by ConservaDem Joe Lieberman in one of his most consequential “f*** you” gestures to the Democratic Party and especially its base voters.

Here, Clinton just repeats the inaccurate trope that it was all the Palestinians’ fault that the Oslo Peace Process broke down and shamelessly regurgitates the Israeli propaganda justification for deliberately targeting civilians because all them were being used as “human shields” by Hamas fighters. It’s disgusting and immoral. Jones’ phrase is “disgusting and insane.”

Jones’ criticism is right. And I don’t want to detract from it.

But it’s also sad to see Clinton coming off like this as a hull of his former self. If the words he’s saying weren’t so horrible and indefensible, it would just be kind of sad and nostalgic to see this.

And it’s hard to believe it’s giving any boost to turnout for the Harris-Walz ticket in Michigan, where Arab-Americans are a key constituency the ticket needs to win. This is as tone-deaf as it gets.

1. Bill Clinton's VILE Anti-Palestinian Racist Speech. Owen Jones YouTube channel 11/01/2024. (Accessed: 01-11-2024).

2. Banks, Aaron (2009): Netroots Nation Part II: Bill Clinton takes on the hecklers. Prospect 08/17/2009. <https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/53161/netroots-nation-part-ii-bill-clinton-takes-on-the-hecklers> (Accessed: 01-11-2024).