Will Bill Clinton save Obama, or sink him?
The former president is joining President Obama in one final campaign push. How much of an asset will he be?
![Bill Clinton](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ewDRYZmAAzVDdqu6LrdmkQ-415-80.jpg)
Next week, in the final days before the election, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton will campaign together in a last-minute sweep of Florida, Ohio, and Virginia, all key battleground states. Team Obama is hoping to repeat the bounce it got from Clinton's blockbuster convention speech, in which he defended Obama's record in detail. Clinton has also cut a pro-Obama ad saying the president "got it right" by proposing economic policies like the ones Clinton used to create jobs and budget surpluses in the 1990s. Still, Clinton can be divisive, and some analysts say he's pushed failing strategies on Obama. Is the former president improving Obama's odds of winning a second term, or could he prove a liability?
Clinton might actually have hurt Obama: Bill Clinton's convention speech "may well have marked the finest moment" of Obama's campaign, says Matt Bai at The New York Times, but, earlier in the year, in one crucial way, "the 42nd president may not have served the 44th quite as well." Until spring, Obama had been portraying Romney as a flip-flopper, but, on Clinton's advice, shifted gears and started hammering him for being "too conservative." So when Romney abruptly moved to the center in the debates, Obama seemed "off-balance, as if stunned that Mr. Romney thinks he can get away with such an obvious change of course so late in the race." And, apparently, he can.
"How Bill Clinton may have hurt the Obama campaign"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If Obama loses, he'll have no one to blame but himself: "Clinton only made suggestions; Obama made the calls," says Paul Mirengoff at Power Line. Besides, "Clinton's advice was reasonable and probably correct." By following it, Obama nearly clinched the race. Then "Romney came roaring back thanks to the first debate." That happened because Romney was sharper and Obama couldn't defend his record, not because Obama was caricaturing Romney as a "horrid reactionary" instead of a flip-flopper.
"Bill Clinton — from savior to potential scapegoat in less than two months"
Bill Clinton can still help save Obama: "It's too late to quibble" over mistakes Team Obama has made, says Robert Stein at Connecting.the.dots. In the few days left, though, what Bubba "could still do better than anyone else suits both his talent and temperament — tie together the overarching issue of both the Presidential campaign and the battle against a Tea Party Congress." In a race this close, Clinton's help might be enough to push Obama "over the finish line."
"Playing the last Clinton card"
Read more political coverage at The Week's 2012 Election Center.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Magazine solutions - August 2, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - August 2, 2024
By The Week Staff Published
-
Magazine printables - August 2, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - August 2, 2024
By The Week Staff Published
-
'In a normal country, their activities wouldn't even be crimes'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published