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November 21, 2009

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Magic in the Clinton camp

Former President Bill Clinton, his daughter Chelsea and former basketball star Magic Johnson stumped for Sen. Hillary Clinton Thursday at Legacy High School in North Las Vegas.

On a day when students had the afternoon off following mid-term exams, they, along with teachers and union members, had the chance to talk to the former president during a nearly 90-minute meeting.

The questions touched on the major issues in the Democratic campaign, including Iraq, health care and the economy.

But there also was time for some light jabs at Hillary Clinton's top challenger in Nevada, Sen. Barack Obama.

“We don’t need someone who’s preaching hope,” said Johnson, alluding to Obama’s stump speech. “We need someone who understands the problems and is preaching solutions.

“The more I played and the more I practiced the better I became," added Johnson, who has made investments in Las Vegas since retiring from basketball. "When I think of Hillary and her 35 years in politics, she’s playing her game better than anyone in this race."

Clinton took more than a dozen questions, using his answers to reiterate that his wife would call for a plan to start withdrawing troops from Iraq and push for clean energy, using the industry's expansion to help create

jobs.

But the former president also took another swat at the competition.

“Obama said the job of the president is to set a vision and not run a bureaucracy,” Clinton said. “But the president is called the chief executive officer of the United States. That means it’s your job to change other

people’s lives.”

Clinton also fielded the obligatory question about what his role would be in the White House if his wife is elected. “We haven’t discussed it much and we won’t and shouldn’t," he said. "I’m wildly superstitious about not looking past the next election.”

Discussion: 33 comments so far...

  1. If you truly support Obama, then spread this article to everyone on your email list. Let his record and his years of selfeless service to the American dream speak for itself. Remember, we are only seperated from every other person in the world by 6 people. Send it to every American you know. Truth will always trump lies, so don't be afraid. Stand for truth in these dark times and let's take our country back from the elites.

    Time Magazine - Obama's Political Experience
    Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008
    Obama's Varied Record
    By AP/CHRISTOPHER WILLS
    http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/......

  2. Make a change Nevada! We love you up here in Seattle!

  3. Clinton is clearly the most experienced, most qualified, and most electable of the Democratic candidates. I am sure Nevada Democratic caucus goers understand what is at stake here. I'd rather put my money on a sure bet than on the vague promises of an Obama candidacy.

  4. Experience? Obama has more years in elected office than Hillary. 11 years in elected office - 8 years for Clinton! This is sucha horrible lie. Please check the facts. Sure bet? How about having the experience and wisdom to vote against sending 4000 troops to Iraq to die. That's almost double the amount that died on 9-1-1! If voting for a dumb war is what Hillary's experience gets us why bother? Barack has the abiliy to unit the votes from the left, right, and center... that's real change versus polarizing, scheming politics as usual. It's time to turn the page on the Bush/Clinton/Bush nightmare... it's time to empower the people - the UNITED states.

  5. Magic Johnson certainly believed in hope in 1992 when he had the money and best medical care and could afford to retire and is still here

    People can support a candidate without morphing into someone they aren't and forgeting who they are/were

    --
    And as a former HUGE Bill Clinton supporter - I wish he could see what he is doing to his own legacy--Joe Klein of Time Mag (and writer of Primary Colors) thinks Bill is deliberately sabotaging Hillary's campaign

    When you read this and see the fight today the former President of the US had with a local newspaper reporter -- well - maybe there is something to that Klein theory

    Try as the Clintons might - it will never be 1992 again and it will never be pre-9/11-- this is not a tag team running for office

    I think President Clinton is going to look back on all this and not be too happy with his actions (or in the alternative he will not remember things as they really happened but as he wanted it to be)
    The art of delusion --

    President Clinton was able to conceal his legendary temper from the public for all these years - but just saying the word OBAMA is like a red cape for a bull --

    He needs to tone it down

  6. Dude, be real. A part time state senator is not the same thing as being a United States senator...all this man cares about is ambition. When he ran for the US Senate, he said he had no business running for the 2008 election given how little experience he would have...and now look, here he is, running. He is about his own ambition. He should go work on his legislative skills, produce something real for the state of Illinois, and then come back and talk about running. I went to school in his Illinois district, no one thinks especially highly of him. He's just another state senator who speaks better than the rest...he certainly didn't do a whole lot to help my south side neighborhood, which he represents.

  7. Good to see Bill out there Hillary. Whatever role he takes in the upcoming Hillary Clinton administration or as her personal representative it will be an improvement over the incompetence of the Bush administration and the role either Cheney or Rove plays, and played.

  8. When need to do this for the people now, and not for politicians. Can this country really survive an entire 30 years of Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton political families. Where has that got us.

    Many people doubt Obama's experience because of what Hillary has been telling the country. But no one can say why.

    Time Magazine wrote an incredible article on Obama's political experience, and if you are a mature voter, then you owe it to yourself to get to know the candidates.

    Obama is an exceptional man, and I would just bet that once the American people learn the truth about his life spent in service, then Hillary's attempt to discredit his credentials will shatter like so much thin glass. And much respect to Time Magazine for not following in the footsteps of CNN and MSNBC.

    Time Magazine - Obama's Political Experience
    Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008
    Obama's Varied Record
    By AP/CHRISTOPHER WILLS
    http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/...

    And if you already support Obama, then send this article to everyone you know. Force them to read it and learn the truth. And the truth is, we have one of the best candidates in Obama, because of his incredible honesty and courage and brilliance. This man actually believes in the American Dream.

  9. Wow. Really don't want to go there...but can't resist noticing that these are two famously-admitted adulterers sharing the campaign trail. Guess that's the best Hillary can get to represent her strong feminist campaign.

  10. Hillary Clinton is the best candidate to be our next president. This is a serious election and voters in Nevada should support Hillary. She has the best plans for universal health care, for economic recovery and for addressing climate change. Unlike the Bush family, Hillary and Bill Clinton are successful because of their education and hardwork. Both are committed to this country and have shown us that in even the most difficult political and personal times, it takes strength and courage to move forward in a positive way. Vote Hillary on Saturday - the tested, experienced candidate.

  11. No, actually Katy, you need to check your facts. Yes, it is true Barack Obama won the election by a high majority (as Clinton did in New York, twice), but this is mostly because he was competing against Alan Keyes, an incredibly right-wing, unreasonable guy, who was brought in on the republican side at the very last minute after the original republican candidate had personal scandal. Alan Keyes had absolutely no legitimacy, and I will be the first to say that Barack Obama is much better than Keyes could have possibly been. But I will say that many of Obama's senate supporters have been very disappointed in him because he came to the senate and has actually accomplished very little since he has been here. People (including myself) supported him because he said that he was going to the Senate to represent us and had no intention of abandoning us, but he has not kept his word. In addition, you should also note that the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times, his home newspapers, have published many articles questioning his ethics, particularly his relationship with Rezko. Now I have no idea what he did or didn't do, and he may have done nothing wrong. But it does make me wonder...Everyone in Chicago knew this guy was corrupt, yet Obama decides to buy a house with his assistance? All I am saying is many people from his district when he was in the state senate felt that he did not do enough, and after he went to the US Senate that feeling was very much confirmed. Here are some interesting articles to think about:

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/polit...
    http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4...

    And these are just two of the reports Chicago newspapers have done on Obama that show his questionable qualities. Again, not trying to bash him, he may be ready someday. I just think he needs to focus on serving Illinois, as he promised, for at least one full term, and then talk about seeking something even higher...

  12. Love from Santa Barbara...

    "What impresses us most about Obama is his ability to inspire hope in those who’ve learned to dismiss the political process as a cynical joke. And his gift goes beyond speechifying, which he does with uncommon grace. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has charged that he is short on experience. We disagree. He has had more years of legislative experience than Clinton, with three years in the U.S. Senate and eight years in that rough-and-tumble body known as the Illinois Legislature. During those 11 years, he successfully brought together Democrats and Republicans to pass legislation benefitting ordinary people — from tax credits for children to ethics reform in Congress."

    and NYC...

    "You know, if someone was married to a surgeon for years, would you consider them qualified to cut you open? Then why does she think being married to a president makes her presidential material?"

  13. OBAMA'S HEALTH PLAN LEAVES OUT APPROXIMATELY 15 MILLION AMERICANS. THEY WILL STILL HAVE NO HEALTH CARE COVERAGE. MY QUESTION IS, WHO ARE THESE 15 MILLION PEOPLE?? ARE THEY A CERTAIN AGE? ARE THEY A CERTAIN ECONOMIC GROUP? ARE THEY A CERTAIN PART OF THE COUNTRY? ARE THEY A CERTAIN ETHNIC GROUP? SENATOR OBAMA, PLEASE ANSWER! WHICH 15 MILLION AMERICANS WILL YOU BE LEAVING OUT??

  14. Nurse Ratchet indeed

    Obama's health care plan has a mandate for children and seniors - it lets adults decide for themselves -- because you cannot force an adult to pay for health care

    This is borne out by the mandated health care plan in MASSSCHUSETTS signed into law by Mitt Romney - same exact mandate as Sen Clinton's plan and it does not work

    No less than Clinton labor sc Reich said that Obama's plan has the best chance to succeed by making health care for adults more affordable and not forcing them to buy inferior health care just to say "everyone is covered"

    One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest -- indeed

  15. "That means it’s your job to change other people’s lives."

    Yep, the Bush/Clinton Iraq War changed the lives of about 4,000 Americans and 150,000 Iraqis.

  16. Wow, I'm so tired of hearing this same-ole objection to Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton as if Bill Clinton's record as a president is somehow merged with the Bush's.

    The idea is to elect the best person for the job now, in 2008. Hillary is the best person regardless of her last name. And if she happens to bring Bill with her to the White House, all the better!

    The Kennedy's were a dynasty. The Bush's a dynasty. The Bhuttos a dynasty. The Roosevelts a dynasty. The Clintons are NOT a dynasty. They are 2 normal hard-working people who happened to meet and marry, both of whom were dedicated to public service and each of whom eventually became elected officials. Neither benefitted from the political success of a grandparent, parent, uncle, cousin, or sibling to my knowledge.

    Vote for the most qualified candidate. HILLARY 08. For the people.

  17. Let's be real, here, shall we?

    Bill Clinton was a CIA informant, recruited in college, who spied on anti-war activists during Vietnam. HE SPIED ON HIS FELLOW STUDENTS, while PRETENDING TO BE against the war.

    As President, he sent AMERICAN SOLDIERS TO DIE the DAY before he was scheduled to be IMPEACHED as a POLITICAL DIVERSION. DO NOT BUY THEIR LIES, PLEASE! WE DO NOT NEED ANY MORE BUSH/CLINTONS IN THE WHITE HOUSE...NO MORE.

    After Whitewater, the Vince Foster "suicide", Clinton's ABSOLUTE INEXPERIENCE to run ANYTHING...and Hillary Clinton VOTED FOR THE WAR!!!

    Barack Obama has passed TONS of legislation while a Senator, uniting the parties, including giving health insurance to 17,000 poor children and 84,000 poor adults, energy legislation, etc., etc. -

    Clinton passed NOT ONE piece of legislation - NOT ONE.

    Her ENTIRE CAMPAIGN is funded by pharmaceutical companies, corporations, and lobbyists. She is nothing but a CORPORATE PUPPET.

    The RICH ELITE want Clinton in the White House.

    The PEOPLE want Barack Obama in the White House.

    YOU DECIDE WHICH IS GOING TO BE STRONGER.

    Obama '08

  18. What has a lower rating than President Bush?
    Answer? Congress!! And we're listening to a bunch of senators claiming they can solve our problems. They ARE the problem, not the solution.

    .

  19. Obama Truth shouldn't be in Las Vegas, where everyting is about the throw of the dice. Keep pumping your pablum on the Clinton Machine around here, I'll just keep marking you for removal. You are so obviously a troll. Let the Nevada people control their own discussion boards, will you?

  20. Hillary 08.

    Stop repackaging Hillary like a disgusting marketer to sell her to us. Some in the Democratic Party may buy your BS. No matter how you repackage her you will not be able to sell her in November. Stay in your trance and keep saying: "Hillary is such a valuable asset to America that we are so very fortunate to have at this moment ". The Republican will give you a rude awakening in November if you nominate Hillary.
    The Clintons are far beyond their political life cycle. There is nothing you can do about it! So your can repackage her, she may try to reinvented herself with funny smiles, the tricks her and there. The republican and the country will tear your repackaging apart in November and she will be exposed. For the sake of the Party please stop. The Clintons are the Democratic Party’s largest liability. There are not an asset due to the life cycle and their shameful behavior in the Whitehouse the last 8 years we send them there.

    Reality check and wake up my romantic person

    Reality check and wake up my romantic person

    What about the Father of Monica Lewinsky and her mother. Who did they called? What news paper did the parents of Monica went to?
    How would you like Monica Lewinsky to be your daughter? How would you like Bill Clinton putting a cigar in her private part, and smoking it? We are talking about a married man. Would you like your wife or your husband to do that to you? Would you not divorce her or him?
    And Clinton looking at the American people in the eyes and saying: “I did not have sexually relationship, with that woman". You call that popularity? Do you know how many people are today in American prison because of oral sex or lying to the grand jury?
    Now I will ask this question: what is worse; lying to the grand jury or lying to the whole country? I don't understand how a person with normal memory and clear judgment will want to have another four of the Clintons in the White house.
    We (democrats) are complaining today about Bush. Do you know who gave us Bush? It is Clinton. Al Gore lost the elections because of Clinton behavior in the white house. Now let reward the Clintons and send them back in the white house. My God! Are we all crazy or the idea to have a woman president is too romantic to resist?

    Holyness the Clinton!!!

    http://prorev.com/legacy.htm

    http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/13832767.htm...

  21. The United States government is NOT controlled by a "CEO", as Clinton says. They are controlled by the Congress, Legislative and Senate branches.

    With all due respect - PLEASE read your Constitution again. I realize that under Bush/Clinton, it's been mangled.

    The job of a president is to work WITH these branches to pass legislation.

    Barack Obama has a PROVEN history of doing exactly that.

    Hillary Clinton has 4 years in the Senate where she passed NO LEGISLATION.

    Everybody but her supporters, it seems, knows that Obama has more experience.

    35 years? Where on her site does it say anywhere what she's done in 35 years? Try to find it.....

    Hillary voted for the Iraq war, completely failed in the Senate with her terrible health insurance plan, her campaign is funded by pharmaceutical companies, and corporations...like WAL-MART....

    Is that REALLY who you want to run this country?
    The same corporations that have been running it for the last seven years? See: corporate puppet.

    Rather than spend another eight years under the policies of Bush, why don't you vote for someone who's actually going to hear to you, and fix the problems we're facing?

    I'm sorry to stump so hard for my candidate, but it seems so obvious to me that at this moment in history, the right candidate is right in front of our eyes - a brilliant man with brilliant plans - read his economic stimulus plan, his visionary technology and innovation plan, his passion for giving teachers better pay, giving schools what they need to teach our children, his commitment to never using nuclear weapons, his insistence on the transparency of government and keeping lobbyists out of Washington - the same lobbyists that are funding Clinton's campaign. We have been given the right choice, here. The entire country sees it. Barack Obama is the right person at the right time in history - again, forgive the stumping, but - Obama is our last chance.

    Vote your conscience, choose your candidate, but my vote is for Barack Obama.

    100%

  22. Barack Obama for President of the UNITED States of America.

  23. Please go caucus for Obama and tell everyone about Clintons and their record.

    Anyone who wants to see the true Hillary, ask her or her supporters why she waffled after initially supporting NY GOV. Spitzer's plan to grant Drivers Licenses to illegal aliens in NY State; remember that terrible debate answer and then the aftermath in which she received a lot of negative airplay. The former President Bill Clinton asked the Governor to pull his plan so Hillary would not have to answer any more questions about it to get her off the hook. Look it up. That is the big supporter of Latinos.

    Please call out Obama on his comments in the debate and check with any relatives or anyone else you know in Chicago to see if he has that kind of record there of saying anything to win the moment and move on with your vote to the next audience.

    The Clintons record in the White House is they never stayed around to fight for us. They caved in on Affirmative Action and Welfare Reform, and most importantly, their Crime Bill that they brag put so many more officers on the street is also singularly responsible for a generation of historically high incarceration rates for black and brown people in this country. We also have the Clinton years to thank for the mandatory sentencing guidelines, eliminating the discretion of judges, and the disparity in sentencing between crack/cocaine sentences.

    We Democrats mobilized to rally around them in 1998 and defend them from attacks, and that was entirely appropriate then. But they are the attackers now, attacking our Union and Obama just to make some kind of triumphant return to the White House; and we have to let them know that we love them but we need bolder, bigger cajones this time around. We need a homerun to sweep in majorities in both Houses of Congress with a message of hope and unity; and then we can claim a mandate to enact sweeping changes in legislation.

    The truth that everyone reading this knows in his/her heart is that:

    1. Any of our three Democratic candidates CAN win in November.

    2. Only one could just as easily lose. (HRC is the only candidate with higher negative ratings than favorable one among all DEM and REP candidates)

    3. And only one could win HUGE. (Obama has the biggest margin between favorable and negative ratings among all DEM and REP candidates)

    We gotta go for it! This is why the female Senator McCaskill from MO and Gov. Napolitano from AZ along with Native American Sen. Nelson of Nebraska all endorsed Obama last week. No one wants the name Clinton on top of the ballot in their state, except the Republicans.

    So please don't stay home. Everyone must go out Saturday and share your views with your neighbors. Go For It. And Ba-Rock the Vote!!!

  24. Obama is a selfish fraud.

    He promised us “change” in Illinois too -- but failed to deliver anything. He has NEVER inititated or supported the kind of fundamental changes that would improve our lives or rid Chicago (my hometown) and Illinois of the politics as usual that has crippled it. On the contrary, he has supported, and benefited politically and financially from our corrupt system here.

    The media has an obligation to provide a more insightful and meaningful exploration of Obama's profound lack of record on the issue of “change” in Chicago and Illinois.

    Obama has done nothing while on our payroll as our senator but cut deals to enrich himself (e.g. Rezko) and his wife (tell us, Michelle, what was the deal Obama cut that more then tripled your salary to $350,000 at the U of Chicago Hospitals immediately after he was elected to the senate?).

  25. denwa- do you like near Darryl?

  26. For Democrats, Obama is the Candidate of Confidence, Clinton the Candidate of Fear

    As Democrats debate on this campaign and on the future of our party, the tone among Clinton supporters has come to differ sharply from that of Obama supporters. While Obama supporters exude confidence, excitement, and the will to win, Clinton supporters seem increasingly defensive; increasingly gripped by the fear that, in debating as we are now, we are fragmenting the party and playing into the hands of the Republicans. Clinton supporters cast Obama as a dangerous interloper who threatens to rip the Democratic Party apart, as an irresponsible dreamer, as a pied piper who is leading the children away to certain disaster. His supporters are cast as misguided idealists, as starry-eyed adolescents who need to give up their "false hopes" of something better than politics as usual and face dull, mediocre "reality." Surely our unruly behavior is already putting the Democratic campaign at serious risk. Surely even now the Republicans must be watching and grinning as we divide so that they can conquer. "Shhhh...," we are told by Clintonistas, "Be careful what you say.... The Republicans are licking their lips right now."

    I say if they're licking their lips now they'll be eating crow come November. For any Republican who might be tempted to put tongue to lip, think again: I and other Obama supporters will vote for Hillary Clinton in November if she wins the Democratic nomination, as I should expect Clinton supporters will do in kind if Obama is the nominee, because we intend to win. The United States and the world can't stand another four-to-eight years of Republican insanity. Hillary Clinton is not my first choice among Democrats, but she beats any Republican by far. In the meantime, let the debate continue: Debate is, after all, the essence of that clever little Greek idea for which our party is named. We have the advantage; we can afford a healthy debate. With a field of candidates such as ours compared to the assortment of flawed specimens running for the Republican nomination, and with our enthusiasm compared to the mood of bitterness and gloom among Republicans, I'd say it is we Democrats who should be licking our lips.

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