Former President Bill Clinton is widely viewed as one of the most talented politicians living in modern America. He came back from the political grave in early 1992, hung on to win two national elections and survived the first full-on impeachment ordeal since Reconstruction… with an approval rating well-above 50%. Not bad credentials.
It’s still unclear how well he can transfer this skill to others. Ask Al Gore (or his wife). He’s also capable of calculated insincerity when it suits the team. #42 spoke at the Aspen Ideas Festival over the holiday weekend and predicted an Obama victory in 2012. He has to say that. He was unable, however, to supply a compelling rationale for his thesis.
“He can talk about what he did do,” the former president continued. “He took steps which avoided adepression. He saved the automobile industry — by not just bailing them out but by requiring a serious restructuring. … When he took office, we had 2 percent of the global market for the electric batteries that will power the next generation of all-electric cars and hybrid vehicles. And on Jan. 1 of this year, we had 20 percent of the global market.
Electric car batteries? Really?
The millions of unemployed citizens in this country couldn’t afford a new electric car right now. If they could, they’d quickly discover how utterly useless they are for regular transportation needs! Don’t try to drive them in the snow… you’ll die stranded in a snowbank before global warming or AAA can save you.
President Clinton is being a good party man here. That doesn’t mean he believes a word of it, Save Jerseyans. Barack Obama is in deep trouble next fall if the “car battery argument” is really his strongest card to play.
