how much did Clinton fire up the base?

[dazzleman]

Clinton has great speaking ability and is very convincing to the simple minded.

Of course, who didn't love the peace and prosperity of the late 1990s.  Clinton implies that this would have continued unabated had he or Gore been in office.

But the reality is that by the time Clinton left office, Al-Qaeda was poised to strike, having been emboldened by Clinton's lack of response to their earlier attacks.  And the economy was slipping into recession.

I am not a guy who blames every gyration of the economy on the president.  I think the effects of a president's economic policy is felt much more over the long term than necessarily during his term in office.  Just as LBJ and Nixon messed up the economy for their successors, other presidents such as Reagan have given their successors stronger economies.

But since Clinton is so quick to take credit for a strong economy during his term, I think it's only fair that he take the blame for a recession that he passed on to Bush.

He should also take the blame for having done absolutely nothing to protect us from the gathering threat of terrorism in the US.

People must be very simple-minded if they believe that Clinton turned everything over to Bush in perfect shape, and he messed it up.  The reality is that Clinton did virtually nothing during his second term, and the gathering mess being created by his neglect was masked by the strong economy, which was faltering by the end of his term.  He got out just in a knick of time.

Clinton spoke not to boost Kerry, but ultimately to promote his own legacy.  Bill Clinton cares about Bill Clinton.  Period.