Bill Clinton is getting sidelined at the DNC
Former President Bill Clinton is getting a chance to speak during the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, although the virtual, pre-recorded address will last less than five minutes and will come well-before the 10 p.m. primetime hour. That's a sign, some observers think, that the Democratic Party is ready to move on from the former leader.
Back in 2012, Clinton stole the show at the DNC with a 48-minute speech that left his allotted time in the dust. Some even credited the speech with making a better case for former President Barack Obama's re-election than Obama himself did. But those days are gone, even though Clinton reportedly remains personally engaged with the current state of politics.
Clinton is 74 now and is reportedly taking great precautions during the coronavirus pandemic because of some health concerns, so lengthy speeches might be out of the question, either way, but Democrats told The New York Times he's simply no longer a focus for a party that has shifted to the left of how he governed between 1993 and 2001. Additionally, the #MeToo movement has brought multiple allegations of harassment and assault against Clinton back to the forefront.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
"It's been 25 years since he was president," said Patti Solis Doyle, a former aide to Hillary Clinton and her first campaign in 2008. "He ran much more as a conservative; he governed much more as a conservative. The party now has moved further to the left than it ever has been. I think his time as a politician has passed." Read more at The New York Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million



