Bill and Hillary Clinton Barnstorm Iowa
EmailFrom David Wright and Sunlen Miller: In their first official joint campaign stop, Bill and Hillary Clinton appeared together in Des Moines tonight at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The couple came out on stage hand-in-hand after being introduced — and endorsed – by Ruth Harkin, wife of Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).
The presence of Bill Clinton on the campaign trail had the crowd buzzing. People sold “Bill Clinton: First Husband” buttons along side the standard “Hillary: First President” ones.
Bill Clinton, wearing a bright yellow shirt contrasting drastically with his wife’s peach outfit, spoke for just seven minutes. He pointed out a man in the crowd with a sign, and said, “There is one guy back in the back that represents a group that I belong to. It says ‘Husbands for Hillary’.“
But the former President also admitted, “I would be here tonight if she asked me to if we were not married.”
The comparison between the Clintons was the elephant in the room. Bill sat on a stool awkwardly by Hillary’s side, sipping water uncomfortably and clapping almost on cue. Hillary Clinton opened up her remarks highlighting one difference she has from her husband: the Iowa caucus, “We did not get the great pleasure of being actively involved back in 1992 because Tom Harkin was running, “she said, “ And I am thrilled to finally find something in politics that I am doing that my husband did not do so this is very special occasion for me.”
Speaking for 27 minutes, almost three times longer than her husband, Senator Clinton touched upon the cornerstones of her campaign: universal quality health care, energy independence, education, bringing troops home from the Iraqi “civil” war, national security, and education.
But she also used the opportunity to respond to President Bush’s decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby, garnering her largest applause for the night, “You heard what the president did today, didn’t you? Now, as I recall, the President said that if anybody in his White House were found to have any part in disclosing the identity of Valerie Plame, they would be fired. Well, apparently, that is another one of those statements by the president that just doesn’t holdup, does it? What we saw today was elevated cronyism over the rule of law. What we saw today was further evidence that this administration has no regard whatsoever for what needs to be held sacred.” Watch the video HERE.
Opening up more on the Bush administration Senator Clinton says the presidency will come with extra challenges, “It will have some special challenges following President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. I am not even sure we know all the damage that has been done.”
Speaking to her role in the race as the only woman, Senator Clinton insisted that she is not running as a woman, but rather the best qualified candidate. She made a thinly veiled reference to a woman’s traditional role (of housekeeper/cleaner) when she joked about the one advantage she does have as possibly being the first woman president, “There is probably one advantage, because we are going to have a lot of cleaning to do. So there will be more than enough work to go around.”
Ending her comments over a boisterous applause, Senator Clinton made one last reference to the Clinton team, gesturing and smiling to her husband who was sitting diligently on stage beside her, “I will have some good help along the way.”
The Clintons continue on their joint barnstorm throughout Iowa on Tuesday and Wednesday with stops in seven more cities.
More from David Wright in Iowa tonight on "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. EDT.
Gulf of Mexico to Become Gulf of America? 
Can Mitt Romney Win Conservatives Back?
that should have read “Bill and Hillary” I was laughing too much.
Posted by: Royce | July 3, 2007, 9:23 am 9:23 am
And it begins…this is why democrats need to let go of Hillary!!1 We are looking at another 4 years of nasty fighting if she is the winner. She has too much baggage
Posted by: Lyn | July 3, 2007, 10:20 am 10:20 am
Nice to see all of these really “insightful” comments. . . the “running scared” crowd at it again!!
Posted by: Chuck | July 3, 2007, 11:02 am 11:02 am
Vote HillBillie ’08? =P
Posted by: Stoic Patriot | July 3, 2007, 12:05 pm 12:05 pm
If Bill is going on the campaign trail then fathers everywhere had best lock up their daughters for safety sake.
Posted by: Bill O'Rights | July 3, 2007, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm
Everyone is just scared that Sen. Clinton can restore hope for the American people by becoming the first female President. The thing that bothers most of you is that fromer President Clinton has stepped forward to help his wife, and that scares every single “Right Wing Conservative” because they know he is the strongest component to her campaign and to her winning the office that she deserves so greatly!!!!!
Posted by: John Horton | July 3, 2007, 2:30 pm 2:30 pm
I would urge people to not vote in favor of Mrs. Clinton because of the hype. Let us not judge this election based on it being new and something groundbreaking because she is a woman. I would ask that people make an informed decision. I trust in the American mind.
And to alert some who are listening to the wrong sources, the really sad thing about Hillary is that she sends out this “I am woman, I can do this on my own, I am strong just like a man” image, however she wasn’t strong enough to leave him when he was CHEATING ON HER!!! She couldn’t stand alone then, and she can’t do it now. Without the HillBillie hype, she wouldn’t be close.
Posted by: Simeon Vandeventer | July 3, 2007, 3:37 pm 3:37 pm
Bill and Hillary “barn stormed” Arkansas before he became president. We still haven’t recovered.
Posted by: Royce | July 4, 2007, 12:16 am 12:16 am
The Grifters (Part Two) “My Life as the First Lady” Starring Bill and Hilary Clinton with Special Guest Stars: Charles Nelson Riley and Barbra Streisand
Posted by: Frank | July 4, 2007, 12:25 am 12:25 am
What a poor reporting job by Richard Wright. It should have been called the Clinton’s as seen and heard by Mr. Wright. That would have been more honest than enduring his innuendos and slanted reporting.
His snide comments were inappropriate. Hillary is a brilliant woman, and I’m now sure I’m going to vote for her, but not because her husband is supporting her effort.
At this stage of the game it would be journalism at its best to allow the viewer to determine whether or not something passed as an “afterthought”, or whether the crowd was behaving in a certain way.
I, for one, am disappointed that this program is stooping to allow unintelligent presentations to pass as Frontline quality.
I hope it’s not impossible for an outstanding program like NIGHTLINE to be unbiased. Mr. Wright presented a report that was insulting to the viewer in its attempt to propagandize the events and facts.
I hope your reports on other candidates can be helpful and informative as we make up our minds in the following months.
Posted by: Judith Kay | July 4, 2007, 3:11 am 3:11 am
bill clinton is the greatest figure on earth!
Posted by: blake beaumont | July 4, 2007, 1:33 pm 1:33 pm
As far as I am concerned his Presidency was the best our country has had since Harry Truman!
Posted by: Doc | July 4, 2007, 1:39 pm 1:39 pm
Amazing.
Even when confronted with irrefutable proof that their ‘Hero’ is not working toward their best interests, or even their countries best interest, they still refuse reality. Try googling ‘Carroll Quigley and Bill Clinton’. Here, I’ll do it for you;
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Carroll+Quigley+and+Bill+Clinton&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Read some of the articles;
“The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences.
The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world’s central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world.
- From ‘Tragedy and Hope’
Vote ANY member of the CFR out of Office, they DO NOT have WE the PEOPLEs interest on the top of their agenda.
http://www.stopthenorthamericanunion.com/TreasonAbounds.html
Posted by: Tom | July 4, 2007, 9:15 pm 9:15 pm
After reading several politcal stories onsite, it pleases me to see all the republican opposition to Hillary. Tee Hee about time we got your attention! I voting for Hillary because she is the best qualified; because she is a woman; and most importantly because I have and always will love and respect President Bill Clinton. My advice to those who are squirmming in your seats, get used to it. Go Hillary!
Posted by: WorldofWebs | July 6, 2007, 4:46 pm 4:46 pm
I was watching the news & saw Hill & Bill holding hands & working a crowd of people. He was wearing a pair of jeans in an attempt to look like a “working man,” as though holding hands with Hillary isn’t laborious enough. His jeans are all faded down the fronts & backs of the legs & his butt, and can be purchased that way, though I’ve always considered pre-worn out jeans to be a waste of money. I hope Iowa voters are smart enough to recognize the attempted deception. Wearing those jeans shouldn’t fool any farmer or rancher into thinking Bill has been working so hard that his jeans wore that way.
I’ve patched enough real jeans of real ranchers & farmers to know that:
1) The most worn place will be from mid-thigh to the knee, but not below the knee.
2) There will be more wear on one leg than the other depending on whether the person is right or left handed.
3) If the backs of the legs are worn, there won’t be anything left of the fronts and aren’t worth patching.
4) the least worn place will be below the knees on the back of the legs. I always get the patches from the backs of the legs of jeans that can’t be patched any more.
5) if the butt is worn & faded, the rest of the jeans will not be worn out at all. It means that the wearer;
i) is spending all his time sitting on his butt & not doing any work;
ii) is spending too much rubbing his butt, or;
iii) is spending all his “work” time having someone else rub his butt for him.
Watch for more costume changes as Bill & Hill glad-hand voters & foist more insults on our intelligence.
Carol
Posted by: Carroll | July 6, 2007, 8:01 pm 8:01 pm
Bill and Hillary Clinton are very nice people. One thing I do know that both
persons have had experience in the White House,supporting the government.
It takes all the people in congress to support laws, etc. Bill and Hillary can’t do by themselves. For their personal lives, it is none of our business. We can’t judge or cast stones.
We must look at ourselves first. What are we doing in our lives. Learn to become productive not bring up old mess about two people. Let them live their lives in peace. What can we do about it? NOTHING Live BILL and HIllary
Posted by: Syl | July 2, 2008, 7:47 am 7:47 am