In tomorrow’s Post, Mike Shear writes that President Clinton will be campaigning for Tim Kaine in Virginia. One fundraiser in Northern Virginia and one in Charlottesville (!) will be held on October 21. Predictably, the Kilgore campaign is trying to present the moderate Democrat as some kind of a crazed, desperately-unpopular liberal. Those with better memories will recall that he ended his two-term presidency with near-universal popularity.
This will provide some great last-minute cash for Kaine’s advertising coffers.
Fantastic! Are you going to attend? I might be willing to cough up $100 to help you attend… if another 49 people did the same. It’d be fun to read about the event on your blog.
he ended his two-term presidency with near-universal popularity
And Hillary really can win in ’08, right?
With that kind of political acumen, I have to disagree with Chad. I really, really hope you run lots of Democratic campaigns. ;-)
I. Publius,
Bill Clinton left office with approval ratings in the high 60’s to low 70’s. That massive popularity among the American people is the only reason why he couldn’t be removed from office when he was impeached. The only people who didn’t support President Clinton by the end of his second term were largely foaming-at-the-mouth conservatives who would vote against Jesus Christ Himself if he had a ‘D’ next to his name. If you know of a reputable poll that flies in the face of what everyone in the reality-based community remembers, please share it. Otherwise I’ve got to laugh at you.
But you’re right about Hillary. Please, God, no Hillary.
high 60s to low 70s, huh? Here’s some actual reality to put into your reality-based community:
In a late October 2000 Gallup Poll, 57% of the respondents approved of the job Clinton was doing as president… Voter News Service exit polls taken at polling places on Election Day 2000 indicated Clinton’s positive job performance rating nationally among actual voters was also 57%.
(from pollingreport.com). Laugh away, champ.
I took issue with the “near universal” claim that Waldo made. Is 57% synonymous with “near universal” in the reality-based community you live in?
You’re attacking the detail and missing the picture. I can give you statistics too:
On some specifics Clinton’s final ratings soar higher still. Sixty-seven percent say he’s been a strong leader. Sixty-eight percent approve of his work on foreign affairs; on race relations, 73 percent approve; and on the economy — the mainstay of his overall approval — 76 percent endorse Clinton’s performance.
(http://uspolitics.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=uspolitics&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2Fsections%2Fpolitics%2FDailyNews%2Fpoll_clintonlegacy010117.html)
The point is that regardless, even if it was 57% (which I believe is low), what Waldo says right before that line is that Kilgore will try to paint him as a “…desperately-unpopular liberal.” With that score, he is still in the upper tier of end-of-term approval ratings since Eisenhower.
And what were his numbers in Virginia? How did Clinton-Gore fare in Virginia in ’92 or ’96? We are talking about an election in Virginia, aren’t we?
Hey, if you guys are thrilled to have Bubba campaigning for you, that’s A-OK with me. Put Michael Dukakis in a tank and parade him around too, while you’re at it.
I don’t see the fact of his fundraising to be a tipper issue. It will probably be a reinforcing issue, that simply strengthens how the citizen was going to vote anyway. You then need to balance this against the fact that Clinton is going to be getting Kaine a bit more money, and how he uses that in the campaign. If that money gets him even one more vote for the opportunity cost and for the fact that Clinton is involved, then it was a success.
I’m just saying that I think its going to help overall, and that is honestly what matters.