Spouses' Roles Evolve On The Trail

Washington Post: A Blossoming Mrs. Obama And A Reined-In Mr. Clinton Refine Their Approaches

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Peter Slevin.

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Bill Clinton has not turned belligerent or angry in front of television cameras for weeks now. No controversial statements, few interviews with the media, just one vote-hunting event after another -- precisely the way his wife's campaign wants it.

Michelle Obama drew unwanted attention to her husband a little more than a week ago when she said that "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country." But she brushed aside charges that she isn't a patriot and stuck to her schedule of media interviews and ever-larger rallies, hoping to live up to her campaign nickname of "the closer."

Days before crucial primaries in Texas and Ohio that could determine who becomes the Democratic nominee for president, the political arcs of Clinton and Obama have been nearly as surprising as the historic campaigns of their spouses.

It was Clinton who was projected to be one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's most effective champions. Still revered by many Democrats, he was expected to remind voters of the glory days of the 1990s, when Democrats retook the White House and the country enjoyed its biggest economic boom in decades. Opinion polls in the fall showed that voters saw the former president as a huge plus for his wife.

But Bill Clinton made a series of racially charged and controversial statements in the days before the South Carolina primary that helped to turn many voters, particularly African Americans, away from his wife's candidacy. His temperamental campaigning also reminded voters of the dark side of the Clinton years. In recent weeks, he has largely been kept away from one-on-one encounters with the media.

By contrast, when Sen. Barack Obama's campaign started, his wife was virtually unknown. As recently as December, her appearances in Iowa and New Hampshire drew mostly the curious, and crowds numbered in the dozens. Now hundreds of fans show up, and they invariably cheer louder at the end of her events than at the beginning.

As their spouses campaign across Texas and Ohio, Bill Clinton and Michelle Obama are doing the same, sparing no superlative in describing their better halves.

Clinton says his wife has "the best solutions."

Obama calls her husband "brilliant."

Clinton labels his wife "the best candidate I ever supported in my life."

Obama says, "We need someone to challenge us to be a better nation . . . and the only person in this race who can do this is Barack Obama."

On the trail, the spouses play very different roles. Clinton comes across less as his wife's biographer than as her vice president, detailing her policy proposals in as many as six events a day. His stump speech resembles a mini-State of the Union address as he skips rapidly from Iran and Iraq to renewable fuels, tax policy and job creation.

He returns repeatedly to his economic record as president, and he told an audience in Texas, a state closely linked to the armed services, that "on every measurement of readiness, our military is in worse shape, much worse shape, than it was the day I left office."

Clinton's homage skips some of the standard riffs of spousal speechmaking: Anecdotes are rare, and so are highlights of his wife's upbringing. He runs through a few slices of her resume but concentrates on her knowledge of the issues, something he believes should separate her from Barack Obama, whom he accuses of campaigning on feeling, not fact. He charges that Obama's call for wholesale change devalues Washington experience and unfairly tars his wife as being in the game too long.

"The other campaign," Clinton said on a stage in Corpus Christi, "believes that anybody who was involved in making anything good happen in the '90s or stopping anything bad from happening this decade . . . should not be permitted to lead this country. So we have to begin again as if nothing ever happened before."

Clinton remains popular, but in a Washington Post poll this month, 50 percent of respondents said they would be comfortable with him back in the White House, down from 60 percent last fall.

Obama's main role has been to introduce her husband to audiences unfamiliar with him.

On the campaign trail about half as often as Clinton so she can be home with her two young daughters, Obama weaves details of her husband's life and her own into an alternately bleak and hopeful tale. It hinges on economic struggle, especially for the working class.

"The bar is set, and folks work to reach a bar. And then they reach it and they think they're there, only to find that the bar has moved," she told an audience in Galveston. "We're seeing it happening to regular folks all over this country. We're living in a time where people are finding that the bar is just shifting and moving on them, and that they can't get ahead."

She then pivots to the call to action that lies at the heart of Barack Obama's approach and appeal.

"Barack says our challenge is that we are suffering from a deficit of empathy, that deep down we are one another's brothers' and sisters' keepers. We've lost the understanding that we in this nation have to have a mutual obligation to one other," Obama said in Galveston. "The truth is, we haven't been asked to compromise and sacrifice for one another. We've been told, 'Just take care of your own, and if you're okay, then don't worry about anybody else.' "

She has castigated the Clintons for what she considers rough tactics that make reconciliation harder once a campaign ends. The way forward, she said in Houston, "is by building relationships, not by cutting your opponents into pieces."

It is a theme she has been hitting for weeks, particularly after Bill Clinton belittled her husband's narrative of opposition to the Iraq war as "the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen."

"Another candidate's spouse has been getting an awful lot of attention," Obama wrote in a fundraising letter. ". . . What we didn't expect, at least not from our fellow Democrats, are the win-at-all-costs tactics we've seen recently. We didn't expect misleading accusations that willfully distort Barack's record."

The crowds for both spouses border on the adoring. They interrupt speeches with cheers and, in Obama's case, quieter affirmations of "You go" and "Girl, we know." Afterward, scores of people press forward, reaching for a handshake or an autograph as Secret Service agents watch intently.

At Clinton events, supporters bring copies of his memoir, "My Life," for his signature.

"I love that guy. Bill's a good old Southern boy. He's old-school; I'm old-school. He's grass roots like I am," said Albert L. Ellis, a politics professor in Corpus Christi who is not an Obama fan. "All this talk about change is so celebrity: 'I've got the glow.' "

At a Michelle Obama event in Galveston, Suzanne Still arrived undecided and left with some of that glow. A Republican who voted twice for President Bush, she said that Obama "just seemed so down-to-earth. It's the naturalness of her. There's no pretend."

"With the Clintons," Still said, "you don't know what to expect."

Washington Post Polling director Jon Cohen contributed to this report.

[grazinggoat]

CBS News: ''''Iran Winning Iraqi Hearts And Minds
Reporter''''s Notebook: Baghdad Visit Part Of Ahmadinejad''''s Strategy To Befriend Iraq''''

CBS News: ''''Rice Blames Mideast Stalemate On Hamas
Secretary Of State In Region To Try And Revive Struggling Peace Talks''''

-Two great achievements of The REPUKONS /Condoleesa Rice one of the most experienced (LOL!) secretaries of sate. Eight years of intensive action in the Middle-East and see what the Repukons have done? Nothing. Plain Failure, Failure, Failure. Experience means nothing in this case, because she was dictated her actions... Experience is bull sh*t... More troubles, more sh*t. More danger of being hit by terrorists. Clintons'''' clan promises more of the same in Foreign politics.

-Barack Obama will bring the Talk and Diplomacy that neither the REPUKONS nor Clinton said they would.

GG, 57 yrs, female.

[grazinggoat]

CBS News: ''Iran Winning Iraqi Hearts And Minds
Reporter''''s Notebook: Baghdad Visit Part Of Ahmadinejad''''s Strategy To Befriend Iraq''

CBS News: ''Rice Blames Mideast Stalemate On Hamas
Secretary Of State In Region To Try And Revive Struggling Peace Talks''

-Two great achievements of The REPUKONS /Condoleesa Rice one of the most experienced (LOL!) secretaries of sate. Eight years of intensive action in the Middle-East and see what the Repukons have done? Nothing. Plain Failure, Failure, Failure. Experience means nothing in this case, because she was dictated her actions... Experience is bull sh*t... More troubles, more sh*t. More danger of being hit by terrorists. Clintons'''' clan promises more of the same in Foreign politics.

-Barack Obama will bring the Talk and Diplomacy that neither the REPUKONS nor Clinton said they would.

[grazinggoat]

CBS News: ''Iran Winning Iraqi Hearts And Minds
Reporter''''s Notebook: Baghdad Visit Part Of Ahmadinejad''''s Strategy To Befriend Iraq''

CBS News: ''Rice Blames Mideast Stalemate On Hamas
Secretary Of State In Region To Try And Revive Struggling Peace Talks''

-Two great achievements of The REPUKONS /Condoleesa Rice one of the most experienced (LOL!) secretaries of sate. Eight years of intensive action in the Middle-East and see what the Repukons have done? Nothing. Plain Failure, Failure, Failure. Experience means nothing in this case, because she was dictated her actions... Experience is bull sh*t... More troubles, more sh*t. More danger of being hit by terrorists. Clintons'''' clan promises more of the same in Foreign politics.

-Barack Obama will bring the Talk and Diplomacy that neither the REPUKONS nor Clinton said they would.

[grazinggoat]

CBS News: ''Iran Winning Iraqi Hearts And Minds
Reporter''''s Notebook: Baghdad Visit Part Of Ahmadinejad''''s Strategy To Befriend Iraq''

CBS News: ''Rice Blames Mideast Stalemate On Hamas
Secretary Of State In Region To Try And Revive Struggling Peace Talks''

-Two great achievements of The REPUKONS /Condoleesa Rice one of the most experienced (LOL!) secretaries of sate. Eight years of intensive action in the Middle-East and see what the Repukons have done? Nothing. Plain Failure, Failure, Failure. Experience means nothing in this case, because she was dictated her actions... Experience is bull sh*t... More troubles, more sh*t. More danger of being hit by terrorists. Clintons'''' clan promises more of the same in Foreign politics.

-Barack Obama will bring the Talk and Diplomacy that neither the REPUKONS nor Clinton said they would.

[grazinggoat]

CBS News: ''Iran Winning Iraqi Hearts And Minds
Reporter''''s Notebook: Baghdad Visit Part Of Ahmadinejad''''s Strategy To Befriend Iraq''

CBS News: ''Rice Blames Mideast Stalemate On Hamas
Secretary Of State In Region To Try And Revive Struggling Peace Talks''

-Two great achievements of The REPUKONS /Condoleesa Rice one of the most experienced (LOL!) secretaries of sate. Eight years of intensive action in the Middle-East and see what the Repukons have done? Nothing. Plain Failure, Failure, Failure. Experience means nothing in this case, because she was dictated her actions... Experience is bull sh*t... More troubles, more sh*t. More danger of being hit by terrorists. Clintons'''' clan promises more of the same in Foreign politics.

-Barack Obama will bring the Talk and Diplomacy that neither the REPUKONS nor Clinton said they would.

[grazinggoat]

CBS News: ''Iran Winning Iraqi Hearts And Minds
Reporter''''s Notebook: Baghdad Visit Part Of Ahmadinejad''''s Strategy To Befriend Iraq''

CBS News: ''Rice Blames Mideast Stalemate On Hamas
Secretary Of State In Region To Try And Revive Struggling Peace Talks''

-Two great achievements of The REPUKONS /Condoleesa Rice one of the most experienced (LOL!) secretaries of sate. Eight years of intensive action in the Middle-East and see what the Repukons have done? Nothing. Plain Failure, Failure, Failure. Experience means nothing in this case, because she was dictated her actions... Experience is bull sh*t... More troubles, more sh*t. More danger of being hit by terrorists. Clintons'''' clan promises more of the same in Foreign politics.

-Barack Obama will bring the Talk and Diplomacy that neither the REPUKONS nor Clinton said they would.

[jack3213]

NEITHER DEMOCRAT IS QUALIFIED, EXPERIANCED, OR WORTHY OF THE TITLE: PRESIDENT OF THE USA. MCCAIN DESERVES THE ROLE BECAUSE HE HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE THE CHANGES THIS COUNTRY NEEDS THAT OTHERS CAN ONLY PROMISE IN VAIN.IT IS A SHAME THE ONLY 2 OPTIONS FOR A DEMOCRAT ARE THESE, BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS AND WISHING FOR ONE OF THEM TO PRODUCE THE RESULTS THAT WILL BRING GREATER SECURITY TO THIS COUNTRY IS SIMPLY NOT EITHER ONE OF THEM.

[ay_jer]

First of all, Hillary Clinton was my choice. She has the experience to lead our country and put our country back in shape after mr.bush damaged our reputation and lives. We need a president that will put americans people first. Our biggest problem here is all these illegal immigrants. we have a big problem on the south border. it is totally unfair for these people sneak over here and receive all these fraud identifications, taking up jobs, putting our country further in debt. oh,mexico like this millions of dollars being sent back home to strengthen there wealth. What about Mexico? They do not mess with illegal immigrants! But yet mexicans cry they have right to enter USA and open its borders and become american citizens. That is a slap in the face to Americans and all our legal immigrants from over seas. It is totally unfair and our government are not doing anything to end this illegal activities. They are proving themselves being stupid! Our American troops do not belong in Iraq and Isreal affairs. HIllary Clinton needs to watch her words!

[realpatriot1]

ccjenkins33,

What are you talkng about? He never said he voted against the war, he said he spoke out against the war. He took a public stand when Hillary was waffling and then caving in to the White House.

denn034,

The Iraqi government is a bunch of hacks who haven''t accomplished anything but going on vacation, have made no attempt to reconcile their differences(the point of the surge and the measure of its success), and who answer not to us but to Daddy Ahbinejad.

Who gives a flying *** what they want?

By the way, Al Quaeda is in Pakastan, if you hurry you can still catch them!

[arr967]

Here we go again. We''re in the 11th hour and Hillary is "Swift Boating" Obama, again. Several months down the road we''ll find out it was all a bunch of *** just like the other Clinton adds. I have a legitimate question for Hillary. Since she voted for the War in Iraq, which my Son is fighting at this very moment, why isn''t Chelsea over there? Does she think she''s better than my Son? Prince Harry doesn''t. OBAMA ''08!

[ccjenkins3]

Obama was not a U.S. Senator in March 2003 when the war on Iraq was first declared. He did not become a U.S. Senator until January 2005, (two years later). He won in november 2004, but not confirmed until Jan. 2005.

WHEN is he saying he voted "NO" for the war? Does he not know he did not vote as a U.S. Senator from the onset of this war? Maybe later, when asked to send more funds, but can someone find out what he is talking about! Please!

[random_radar]

Guns and butter! Just because every empire in history has gone bankrupt fighting endless wars while their economy stagnated doesn''t mean that will happen to us!

We can afford unlimited war and still let the good times roll! Keep telling yourself that while other nations develop peacefully and you lose your job, your house, and your economic well being...

[smashwl7]

Hillary Clinton is going to destroy the Democratic Party, she will fracture Democratic support mark my words America! McCain may win in November and our country is going to face some of the worse financial times in American history. Further we are about to embark on a new world war with McCain at the helm. God help us all. We are going to need someone with Obama%u2019s talents to help us all pull together to get thru what I see coming. God Bless You All!

[tibu987]

To all the Obama naysayers out there, I say this:
I would rather have an idealistic person who recognizes many of the wrongs in this country and world, than more of the same from the Clinton twins or McCain.
Most of our Washington pols are tired old men and women who have been in office too long and no longer
feel any closeness, any obligation, to the people of this country. Many of these Washington old-timers are more concerned with their positions of power, arrogance, and feathering their own and their cronies nests than meeting their obligations to the electorate.
I, for one, am tired of seeing and hearing these old goats and their blathering oratory.
I welcome the presence for more young, idealistic people in Washington.
Incidentlally, I am a 72 year old white, male, veteran. and I''''ve seen it all.
I''''m voting for Obama


I know, and often use, quotes when talking to people.
And often, I not recall, nor give credit to the author of those quotes.
And so, I plead guilty to verbal plagiarism, please don''''t be too hard on me for that.




People who live in glass houses should not throw stones".
I''m sorry, I don''t know the author of that saying.
Please don''t accuse me of plagiarism.

How ludicrous is the vitriol being spouted by Hillary and her staff.

[denn034]

The Iraqi government wants us to stay. The Democrats want to abandon the Iraqi government, condemn every Iraqi to chaos and misery, and run for al Qaida. Period!

[tibu987]

jesterbelle............
Withdrawal does not mean surrender. One can oppose the war and still support our troops, they are, after all, doing their job.
What we object to is being in a civil/cultural/religious war that the evil Bush cabal
started and one that we should not even be in.
I object that our soldiers are being killed along with many innocent Iraqi men, women, and children.
Ruining the Iraqi infrastructure and besides the loss of lives, spending $2.4 billion dollars a week to do so.
Bush lied, people died.
Sound smart to you?

[realpatriot1]

standlee,

I don''t know how many, I just know none are named Clinton or McCain.

chitown,

Bill Richardson sounded the deathknell for Hillary yesterday. He said after tomorrow the democrat with the significant delegate lead(not Hillary even if she wins) should be recognized as the nominee.

The super delegates who have remained on the sidelines in order to avois a brokered Convention re getting sick of waiting for Hillary to read the handwriting o the wall. If she doesn''t win convincingly in both Ohio and Texas ther will be a delegation of Congressional Democrats and party dignataries paying her a little visit to say get out or we''ll run you out!

In order to win convincingly enough she''ll have to improve upon her poll numbers by 20+ percent in both states and win the delegate rich districts where he''s ahead.

The Knicks stand a better chance of winning the NBA Championship.

[realpatriot1]

jack99123,

Most of the states that you refer to as red states were won by Bill Clinton so the GOP doesn''t own them. The polls from all polling organizations have been showing for months now that no one beats Obama.

no one can predict what will happen in November but the most objective measures tell us that the candidate receiving almost as many votes as the combined total
of Hillary & McCain is the smart bet.

Rasmussen has been conducting statewide tracking polls for a few weeks now which show the following electoral vote counts:

McCain 297 Clinton 241

or Obama 332 McCain 206.

Anyone who claims that Obama can''t beat McCain or that Hillary is stronger against McCain is lost in their own fantasy.

[random_radar]

The reason the economy is falling apart might be related to spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the war in Iraq. You may be proud to fight the "war on terror," but if it costs your job, your house, and your financial future--maybe the terrorists are winning?

[jack99123]

If you use the eletoral votes, Hillary is still leading 205 to 193 for Obama. General Election is run on the basis of winner take all and electoral Votes are what count. If Hillary wins Texas and Ohio and RI,and Obama wins VT she will get 263 electoral votes and he will have only 196 votes. Even if Hillary loses Texas , she will still lead 229 to 227
So this race is not over yet. Obama has won mostly in states that are Republican states and he won because of crossover votes from Republicans and Hillary has won all democratic states. So Hillary should be the real Nominee. Nobody in his right mind will vote for Obama in General Election and we will lose election to Republicans again.The only combination that makes sense is Hillary Obama combination. GO Hillary 2008