Bill Clinton Stumps for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland

Yesterday I trekked over to the Cuyahoga Community College eastern campus in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland to hear Bill Clinton rally a large crowd to support his spouse. As expected after the negative reaction to Clinton's attacks on primary opponent Barack Obama before the South Carolina primary, he was relatively restrained and never engaged in any direct criticism. He pretty much stuck to promoting Hillary Clinton as qualified and a life-long "change maker," although toward the end he alluded to Obama indirectly by saying that being an effective president is different from being an effective campaigner. There were no questions from the audience and there was no separate encounter with the press, presumably in order to avoid more direct and ad hoc comments.

A big crowd gathers to hear the former president, including a mix of avid Clinton supporters and those merely curious.

Clinton was preceded by Warrensville Heights Mayor Marcia Fudge (D) and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Cleveland), who were much more energetic (and louder) in expressing their support for the candidate. Clinton's approach was more amiable and anecdotal, a style at which he is practiced and effective. Much of his talk was rather wonkish, criticizing Bush policies and promising that Hillary Clinton would change them, rather than grand themes in sweeping terms. It was almost as though Clinton looked under the hood of the nation's car and told you what parts are bad and need replacing. I think that Obama's style would be more like stepping back from the car and asking you to think beyond internal combustion.

Clinton was personable and at ease, walking about the stage with the microphone in his hand.

Here is the audio of Bill Clinton's speech (47 minutes, about 5 MB):

BillClinton.mp3

Video highlights are now posted here.