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Clinton in Clinton

James Forsyth

Friday, 25th January 2008

Bill Clinton really is the most naturally gifted politician of his generation. I’ve just got back from watching him host a QandA in Clinton, South Carolina and it is remarkable how good he is despite breaking most of the rules of campaigning. He turned up late, as he always does, and some in the audience were slow hand-clapping before he turned up. When he finally arrived, he gave long winded answers that frequently drifted all over the place. But nothing could distract from the connection that he has with the audience and his ability to explain complex policy in plain English.

One incident summed up Clinton’s skill. At one point, he literally walked off the edge of the stage. The audience drew breath but Clinton landed on his feet and effortlessly cracked a joke about how he had been “trying to get down here with you.” A moment that would have tripped up pretty much every other candidate ended up working to his advantage.

The one politically tricky moment for Clinton was him telling a little boy who asked whether Hillary would keep troops in Iraq, that she would leave some in the region to fight al Qaeda, “the people who did 9/11.” This elision of al Qaeda in Iraq with al Qaeda normally infuriates Democrats who see it is an extension of Dick Cheney’s effort to create a link in the mind of voters between Iraq and 9/11.

It might be unfair to compare Bill and Hillary—after all very few politicians in terms of natural political skills would come off well in a match up with him—but when they tell the same story on the stump it is inevitable. Both told a story about a solider at Walter Reed who had lost an arm and his ring finger in an explosion in Iraq because his wedding ring melted into his finger. When Hillary told the story it came off with little emotional impact. In Bill’s hands, it packed far more of an emotional punch and the audience was hushed by the time Bill finished telling it.