Bill Clinton DNC 2012: Former President To Take The Stage For Obama Wednesday
President Bill Clinton is set to take the stage at the Democratic National Convention tonight, Sept. 5, in a prime-time speaking slot usually reserved for vice presidential candidates.
The Democratic Party bumped Vice President Joe Biden's address to Thursday night to create a virtuous moment for Clinton, who is currently enjoying a 66 percent approval rating, making him perhaps the most popular politician in America.
The Obama campaign is looking to utilize their party's last president to remind voters of the good times America enjoyed last time a Democrat was in the White House. The strategy should be effective, considering Clinton's popularity and deep political connections.
"Bill Clinton knows the name virtually of 70 percent of the people in [the convention]. I'm not kidding you, he knows the name and he has met them," said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. "And not only does he know the name, he knows what they do for a living. He may even know their dog's name."
Leading up to Clinton's speech, the media has fixated on the often tumultuous relationship between the former president and Barack Obama. A piece in The New Yorker detailed the animosity resulting from Obama's clashes with Hillary Clinton during the 2008 campaign and the subsequent rebuilding of a relationship between the two presidents.
Salon.com published a piece about what it called "trolling Bill Clinton," which detailed the fuss over the fact that Obama's strategists still had not seen the text of Clinton's speech as of Tuesday, though the columnist dismissed that concern as being meaningless.
Based on the massive amount of coverage in advance of his speech, it's safe to say anticipation is incredibly high for Clinton's address, scheduled for tonight at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time.
