Thoughts on Day 02 of the DNC 2012 – Bill Clinton Delivers the Policy Narrative Obama Has Struggled to Articulate

Last updated on: September 6, 2012 at 10:38 am by Tim Suttle

Thoughts on Day 02 of the DNC 2012 – Bill Clinton Delivers the Policy Narrative Obama Has Struggled to Articulate 2012-09-06T10:38:44-06:00 Tim Suttle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Bill Clinton should still be a political punch line. After the Monica Lewinsky scandal and his impeachment by the House of Representatives one might think that he would still be too radioactive for the prime time slot at the DNC. Apparently not… because last night Bill Clinton stole the show. It was a legend do what he does best. Love him or hate him, you can’t argue the fact that Bill Clinton is still the most talented politician in America.

I’m not sure what I expected, but what I saw was that Clinton gave the speech I expected Paul Ryan to give last week. In very clear terms he explained his version of why Barack Obama deserves a second term; a version which – let’s face it – was long on rhetoric, shady stats, and questionable logic but which somehow rings true to what many Americans have been sensing for most of the election cycle. Clinton took nerdy, boring, political policy and wove it into a compelling policy centered narrative. He demonstrated once again why as President, he came back from every scandal: winning elections isn’t about the candidate, it’s about the policy and the people. Whoever can most effectively connect the policy narrative to their candidacy will win. The election isn’t about who is the better man. As far as I can tell the candidates are both very good and honorable men. The election is about connecting people’s self interest to a compelling political narrative which will serve as a rationale for governing.

Romney doesn’t have that narrative yet, and its unlikely he’ll be able to find it in time. Obama has struggled to articulate his policy narrative because when he tries to make the case for himself, it sounds like a bunch of excuses and equivocation. When Bill Clinton said it for him – what can I say – it worked. Clinton told voters who are frustrated because they haven’t quite felt the economic turn around yet exactly what they wanted to hear:

“No president, no president — not me or any of my predecessors, no one, could have repaired all the damage he found in just four years. But he has laid the foundation for a new, modern, successful economy, of shared prosperity, and if you renew the President’s contract you will feel it. You will feel it.”

This might be the only rationale many Americans need in order to vote for Barack Obama. People still believe that Bill Clinton knows what he’s talking about, and he says it’s coming back. Then he drove home what might have been the most effective subversion of Romney’s rationale (his policy narrative) for election:

“In Tampa, the Republican argument against the president’s re-election was pretty simple: We left him a total mess, he hasn’t finished cleaning it up yet, so fire him and put us back in. I like the argument for President Obama’s re-election a lot better. He inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash, began the long, hard road to recovery, and laid the foundation for a more modern, more well-balanced economy that will produce millions of good new jobs, vibrant new businesses and lots of new wealth for the innovators.”

This was the real political move of the night. Without even mentioning his name, Clinton effectively tied Romney to George W. Bush. The mistake that the Obama campaign continues to make is to paint Romney as a mustache twisting daddy-war-bucks who has a couple of poor people tied up in his basement just for fun. It doesn’t fit. But Clinton tied him to George W. Bush whose policy narrative is already set in stone: he was a really good guy, great on foreign policy and presidential pastoral care who was in over his head on the economy and steered the ship into a sandbar.

Fact checkers will be working for days to try and help decide if they are buying what Clinton is selling, but it won’t matter. The damage to Romney has been done. I look for Barack Obama to weave a similar

Previous Post

September 6, 2012

Transcript of Bill Clinton's Speech to the DNC 2012 - (Actual Transcribed Remarks)

Next Post

September 6, 2012 Transcript of Joe Biden's Speech from the DNC 2012

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion corruption Donald Trump elections Empire Entertainment Ezra Klein ideology Justice Lacan politics race Sports Ta-Nehisi Coates Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 March 2026 September 2025 March 2025 June 2024 January 2024 December 2023 May 2023 February 2023 October 2022 April 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 March 2020 September 2019 July 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Psalm is quoted by Jesus on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Select your answer to see how you score.

Psalm 34 Psalm 137 Psalm 22 Psalm 2