It was meant to be a compliment, apparently, but it came off as Bill Clinton telling everyone that Obama was clueless on what to do about the economic crisis.
Here’s the original story and the quote:
“I haven’t cleared this with him and he may even be mad at me for saying this so close to the election, but I know what else he said to his economic advisers (during the crisis),” Clinton told the crowd at a Wednesday night rally with Obama in Florida. “He said, ‘Tell me what the right thing to do is. What’s the right thing for America? Don’t tell me what’s popular. You tell me what’s right — I’ll figure out how to sell it.'”
Yup, seems like he’s saying Obama was clueless on the economic situation and had to go to the Clintons (and others) for help. The part where Obama tells Clinton “you tell me what’s right — I’ll figure out how to sell it” sounds especially bad. Makes him sound like an empty suit, does it not?
Or maybe he sounds more like a used car salesman? You tell me…
UPDATE: here’s video of it, the key part comes at 8:25:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC-9PgJfJIw
UPDATE: Hot air and Free Republic link to my post.
Allah Pundit at Hot air makes a good point. Yes, practically nobody knew what to do about the economic crisis so this shouldn’t be a huge deal except imagine if a senior republican had said the same thing about Sarah Palin (or John McCain for that matter)…
Also consider how strongly Obama has attacked McCain for supposedly not understanding the economy.
MORE FROM BUBBA UPDATE: During the same speech in which he dropped the backhanded gem above he also said this (The quote is at of the video posted above):
“He has executed this campaign in a way that is different from modern and forward thinking — something no one else ever could have done. He can be the chief executor of good intentions as president.”
I’m not sure what to make of it… but it sure is interesting.
Watching the video it looks like the part where he says that Obama’s campaign is different from modern and forward thinking ones was a screw up becuase he doesn’t finish that point and just jumps into the end. I think he was trying to say that Obama’s campaign was different from other campaigns that have come before.
The part that confuses me is the “He can be the chief executor of good intentions as president”. Is he really trying to say that we should vote for him because he has lots of good intentions? I don’t know, in context it seems as though Clinton is trying to say that we should vote for Obama because he has done a good job running his own campaign… However, that doesn’t sound any better than the whole good inetentions thing anyway.
But here is the video of it so you can decide for yourself:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq-892g9qLQ
Hmmm… the comment will be scrutinized by McCain supporters but I don’t think it will change any minds. I saw the old Clinton electricity energizing the crowd while BO sat back cool as a cucumber. Remember, that crowd is driven by emotion, not logic or facts, so I would say that Clinton did the job for him.
We have had eight years of a president who didn’t consult with anyone. He had all the answers. They just happened to be wrong. Senator Obama wants to hear ALL sides before making a decision. That is the way to make intelligent decisions!
Clinton didn’t say Obama was clueless.That’s your right wing spin. What he said was that Obama went to various experts to gather as much information as possible before making a policy decision.That’s exactly what a good president is expected to do.
This is a total twist of the fact–I saw it, I know. He suggested NOT that Obama was clueless, BUT THAT HE HAS AN OPEN-MIND and wants to get at all the real underlying facts. The spin on this piece is just plain biased.
“You tell me what’s right — I’ll figure out how to sell it”
How does this quote stand with all you who are defending Obama?
He obviously had no clue what to do and needed to run to Billary for help… or, at least, that’s what Bill is saying.
I voted Democrate all my life, but I sure can’t see where they found this Obama fellow. They must have been real desperate for a candadate. I have now turned Republican along with most of my family members and glad of it. Senator McCain is a true American and we are all proud of him. He made a good choice when he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate.
I don’t think this is a miquote,”President of good Intentions,” because that is ALL the Democrat (not Democratic) party is about, good intentions. Look at some of their grand good intentions that didn’t work, or are failing. Social Security – thank you FDR. (I’m old enough to remember life before the following items.) “The Great Society” i.e. Welfare, and unchecked social program spending – thank you LBJ. The Department of Education – thank you Jimmy Carter.
The Dems don’t judge greatness on results, but on the good intentions and good feelings they promote. It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t work, or doesn’t change a thing. Just throw some more taxpayer money at it and transfer wealth from productive citizens to people who will never be productive under the current climate. It doesn’t matter that Social Security is a ponzi scheme – we would put anyone but politicians in jail for such a plan. ‘Nor the Great Society has not changed the percentage of people below the poverty level any appreciable amount, or that our schools are becoming gang battleground daycares, it’s the thought that counts.
How about this novel idea. Help the sick, the disabled, and those who work but need a hand – to be repaid later. Every able bodied person should be on their own.
No one in the whole world knows how to fix these economic problems, because they were caused by “derivatives,” – mainly mortages that were broken into pieces, combined with other pieces, and sold all around the world. Nobody knows what they are or what, if anything, they are worth.
Clinton doesn’t know, and Obama doesn’t know. But at least these two know much more than McCain, whose knowledge of economics is nil. McCain’s chief economics advisor is, or has been, former US Senator Phil Gramm, who was instrumental in getting the banks deregulated.
Time for old Bill to go home and sit in twin rocking chairs with Hillary.
Thank God we’ll have a president who will know how to express himself in English and won’t be fooling around with the interns.
Of course, Obama consults with experts. It would be stupid NOT to. That’s what you have advisers for. McPain probably wouldn’t even know anybody to ask.
You’ve taken this WAAAYYYY out of context. I’m a McCain supporter, but what you’ve done in this blog is what I hate about politics in general. Take something that is very true – a leader should be smart enough to seek advice, weight options and meke a calculated decision – and spin it to make someone sound stupid. I was looking forward to finding something to show Barak’s weakness and instead this shows he is an adept leader.
I think I might do this with my old stuff to get rid of it.