NYT: Bill Clinton drawing small, quiet crowds in New Hampshire

January 7, 2008

In New Hampshire, Bill Clinton Is Finding Less Spark

By MARK LEIBOVICH

DURHAM, N.H. — Is this what it would have been like had Elvis been reduced to playing Reno?

Former President Bill Clinton has been drawing sleepy and sometimes smallish crowds at big venues in the state that revived his presidential campaign in 1992. He entered to polite applause and rows of empty seats at the University of New Hampshire on Friday. Several people filed out midspeech, and the room was largely quiet as he spoke, with few interruptions for laughter or applause. He talked about his administration, his foundation work and some about his wife.

“Hillary’s got good plans,” Mr. Clinton kept saying as he worked through a hoarse-voiced litany of why his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, is a “world-class change agent.” He urged his audience to “caucus” on Tuesday for Mrs. Clinton, before correcting himself (“vote”). He took questions, quickly worked a rope line and left.

Maybe the sluggish day was a blip. It was, in fairness, the day after Mrs. Clinton finished third in the Iowa caucuses, behind Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and John Edwards of North Carolina. Mr. Clinton was working on 30 minutes’ sleep. He traveled to New Hampshire from Iowa in the wee hours, and the university was on winter break.

But there was a similarly listless aura at the previous stop, in Rochester. And again, on Saturday in Bow, at just the sort of high school gym that the master campaigner used to blow out. Only about 225 showed up in Bow — about one-third the capacity of the room — to hear Mr. Clinton hit his bullet points on the subprime lending crisis, $100 barrels of oil and how “10 of Hillary’s fellow senators have endorsed her.”

“The crowd seemed very passive,” Arthur Cunningham of Bow said after the speech. “Maybe they were tired.”

Since Mrs. Clinton’s performance in Iowa last week, one of the more intriguing narratives around her campaign has been the “Bill to the Rescue” conceit.

Continue Reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/us/politics/07bill.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1199682237-DEwLXBzPDnOIe6gwhxWzKg

"People with ties to the campaign said Mr. Clinton has been increasingly engaged in strategy, talking regularly to James Carville, one of the chief architects of his 1992 campaign. Mr. Carville said that he spoke “periodically” with Mr. Clinton and that they remained close friends."

Bill you had your day in the sun. You fucked it up Monica, Gennifer, etc., but oh well, time has passed. Obama is our future. Embrace it or get left behind.

Obama came to ASU a few months ago and drew similarly massive crowds.

Maybe Clinton's popularity is waning.

I think he's surprised that the new faces in the party have such a big influence and popularity.

I keep hearing these reports that everybody's wife was there at the debate..... but Bill wasn't there for Hillary. Chelsea the dutiful daughter was, but not Bill the presumptive First Husband.

Are there any links to video of Bill being there at the debates for Hillary?

Bill Clinton, no matter how much preferable to Bush, was very conciliatory with the right wing when he was president. DOMA, "welfare reform," expanding "anti-terror" legislation, increasing federal death penalty - all things he supported. I do not see where Hillary Clinton puts forth a different paradigm.

I saw him on CSpan and it appeared he has been talking to world leaders and agendy heads for so long that he's forgotten that you have to keep it short and break it down when you're talking to regular folks. It's sheer brilliance when you see him as the smartest guy at some global conference. But when he's wonking it up to a 12 year old in NH, just doesn't cut it. I was really surprised.

Bill Clinton finished 2nd in New Hampshire by promising a middle class tax cut.

He became the first President to break his cornerstone campaign promise before taking the oath of office.

that Obama filled yesterday and they too had to use another room for the overflow of people who showed up to the event.