It's an argument that Bill Clinton has made before: Hillary Clinton loses caucus states because working-class voters are disenfranchized by evening caucuses. But in the midst of a frenetic effort to harvest the blue-collar vote that Barack Obama has struggled to court in the lead-up to Tuesday's Potomac Primary, the former president isn't holding back.
"Her campaign's broad appeal is largely to people who need a president," Clinton told an audience in Silver Spring's Leisure World retirement community tonight. "Very often they are working and busy and dont go to these caucuses."Clinton also claimed that, despite losses in caucuses those held in Iowa and Washington State (he conceded that she "got killed" by rival Obama), his wife "had receieved about half a million more popular votes." (it's unclear when that count was made, however) He noted that her losses in caucus - versus primary -- states echoes the results of his own ultimately successful run for the presidency in 1992.
The room filled with regretful and sympathetic murmurs when Clinton related the story of six nurses in Washington State who spoke at an event for the New York senator after she was endorsed by the American Nurses Association. "They all said how sorry they were because they couldn't caucus for her because they had to work that day," he related.
Here's the thing: Clinton has won 9 of the 18 primaries held so far. The other 18 9? They were won by Obama. That's right. They are even in primaries. How broad and appealing!
And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Bill who railed endlessly about the unfairness of at large caucuses set up on the Vegas strip? You know, the ones that were designed specifically to allow casino workers to both work their regular shifts and participate in the process? So long as he thought Obama would win those precincts, he argued that they were oh-so-unfair. In fact, he was even willing to provide not-so-subtle support to legal efforts designed to shut them down. But now, all of a sudden, he's decided to reverse course and become the champion for the worker who can't get away from his or her job? Are you kidding me?
He still doesn't get it. He was our president, and he always will be our president. It's fine for him to support his wife, but he needs to do so in ways that are fundamentally honest. If Hillary truly is the best person to lead this nation, twisting the truth wouldn't be necessary. As a former president, he doesn't need to remain neutral, but he absolutely must remain honest.
The problem isn't with the caucuses. The problem is with his candidate.
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