Bill Clinton has been raising funds and making campaign appearances for a lot of Democrats, but I'm not really sure why they're always so excited to have him come aboard. Here are a few pictures I collected off the web of Bill Clinton campaigning with various people who then went on to lose -- often spectacularly and surprisingly -- possibly due to the Clinton Kiss of Death.
Bill Clinton campaigns with doomed California Governor Grey Davis, 2003.
Bill Clinton campaigns with Vice President Al Gore, who lost the 2000 presidential election.
Here's Bill Clinton with Walter Mondale, who spectacularly lost Paul Wellstone's Senate seat in 2002.
Bill Clinton in Florida with Democrat gubernatorial cadidate Bill McBride, who beat out former Clinton Attorney General Janet Reno [corrected] for the nomination, but then lost the election to Jeb Bush in 2002.
Bill Clinton campaigns with Kathleen Kennedy Townsend as she runs for governor of Maryland, a heavily Democrat state, but she ends up losing the election to Republican Bob Ehrlich [corrected].
Bill Clinton and terrorist Yasser Arafat share a special moment. Ok, so Arafat hasn't lost any elections (you have to hold elections before you can lose them), but he sure has come down in the world over the past few years. He's now holed up in a mostly-destroyed office building, waiting to be exiled or assassinated. Update: Arafat has stomach cancer, so apparently Bill Clinton did have a positive effect on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after all.
Including that Arafat photo was inspired.
Good post. One correction, though: Former Attorney General Janet Reno, not Albright.
Duh, thanks for the correction Alex.
Another one:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/06/ip.pol.umbrella/
(Bottom of document)
Arafat had a heart attack this week.
Actually, Gore did not lose the 2000 election, and most Democrats feel he would have won it decisively had he not kept Clinton out of sight and let him campaign for him. I am not sure if I buy that, but that is the CW.
I hadn't heard about an Arafat heart attack (it rhymes!).
And Laura, Al Gore did lose the election, as evidenced by the fact that he is not President. You may not like the electoral college system, but it's not going anywhere, and them's the rules.
Based on these other pictures, I'm not sure Clinton would have had a positive impact for Gore :)
Let's only hope that Clinton's influence has a certain tug on Arafat's heart, literally.
Errrrr, but Michael, that's Bob Ehrlich, not Paul Ehrlich.
But they stay in the news and are now getting rich.
Bill and Hillary are one of the most facinating political stories in my lifetime. I suspect they will still be in the news for a long time.
Laura in DC: "Actually, Gore did not lose the 2000 election"
Huh? Are you being serious?
So if the latest rumor proves true, that Arafat is in fact dead, does Bill Clinton get his 'legacy' back?
Actually, Gore did not lose the 2000 election...
Denial ain't just a riv--awww, what's the use? Even humor would be lost on True Believers(TM).
Bob Ehrlich, sigh. Two corrections for one post?! I can hardly believe it. Thanks! And I was in Maryland during the 2002 campaign season, so I eve saw his ads.
Patrick: "Huh? Are you being serious? "
As serious as the heart attack all those (thousands) Palm Beach Jews had when they found out they "voted" for Al Gore AND Pat Buchannan.
Wanting to vote for someone is quite different than actually, successfully voting for someone. If all the registered Democrats actually voted, the whole country would be like California -- totally controlled by Democrats, and totally screwed.
Except that the Democrats in California woke up, and have started registering and voting Republican.
As serious as the heart attack all those (thousands) Palm Beach Jews had when they found out they "voted" for Al Gore AND Pat Buchannan.
"Palm Beach Jews" is a bit derogatory don't you think? My mother taught me that you refer to Jewish people. Not "the Jews." He's Jewish, not "He's a Jew."
regardles of who it was that couldn;t figure how to use a simple ballot, it's nobody's fault but their own. Now I am not going to say anything more about the 2000 election. Responding to the "Bush stole the election" crap only gives it a sort of credibiity. It's just so darn frustrating.
Patrick: "Huh? Are you being serious?"
Shep: "As serious as the heart attack all those (thousands) Palm Beach Jews had when they found out they 'voted' for Al Gore AND Pat Buchannan [sic]."
Unlike the tens of thousands of would-be voters in the conservative Panhandle, who abandoned the polls in droves after the media falsely claimed the state for Gore while the polls were still open there.
Laura in DC: "Actually, Gore did not lose the 2000 election"
Patrick not in DC: "Huh? Are you being serious?"
Time to brush up on the lingo. Democrats never "lose" elections. Republicans "steal" them. Got it?
*Sigh*
Al Gore received more popular votes nationwide than did Dub.
Dub won the vote of the electoral college. It is the electoral college that actually elects the President. This is the way limited democracy works in our Republic.
So yes, reality is Dub won the election.
It is my personal belief that Clinton could have helped Gore in a number of states in 2000. This is based on my experience in the field in a couple of midwestern states in the 2000 election. Disagree with me if you want, but that was my experience.
Reality is that Clinton energizes the Democratic base. And while the "Kiss of Death" shtick is cute, reality is that Clinton was appealing to the Democratic base in the photos used (except the Arafat photo.) :)
If Clinton had been used effectively in Ohio and West Virgina (to name two States) Gore may have won the election. But the Gore campaign chose not to use Clinton in that way, for whatever reasons. Clinton's appeal to the base may have helped Gore in those states. Or it may not have - who knows.
Bottom line is like Michael said - Al Gore did lose the election, as evidenced by the fact that he is not President. I say if the Gore campaign had used Clinton effectively, the end result may have been different. But the Gore campaign didn't and the result wasn't.
Marty: I agree that Clinton is popular with the base, but he alienates a lot of moderates and conservatives, and gets them out to vote as well. Hillary will experience the same phenomenon if she ever runs for president (she's entirely unelectable because of it, in my opinion).
Both Clintons have high positive ratings, but they also have high negative ratings -- they both polarize the electorate. In contrast, both Arnold and McClintock in California had decent positive ratings, low negative ratings, and decent "don't care" ratings. Even with high positive ratings, it's critically important that the people who don't view you positively view you indifferently, rather than negatively. Because then they won't come out to vote against you.
believe me...those Clintons they have such high positive ratings, they will be in the news for some time...good thing they've paid off so many
of the right people and their answer to a sticky situation is to push the cash filled envelope their way...
Al Gore did win the election of 2000. This is evidenced by the fact that he received 500,000 more votes, and millions of African Americans in Florida were disenfranchised.
They are facts. You can side with good/truth or lies/theft.