During the primaries, I thought he pandered for the racist vote. He won me over with his convention speech.
But now, the democrats need him. He's powerful and can reach the people that Obama can't.
There are a lot of disheartening stories running now (NPR has a series) about how race might play into people's vote. I believe the people who look for flag pins or point out that Obama is a Muslim (he's not), are not likely to vote for a black man.
But if Bill could make them see they'd be better off under Obama, maybe he can sway a few votes, enough to matter in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The fact that they'd be better off voting for Obama was the point I think Obama was trying to make when he made the now famous-- and used at every stump stop by the Lipsticked Wonder -- "cling to guns" remark, which was distorted into elitism.
He meant: Instead of voting for their best economic interests (the strength of the democrats), they vote on republican issues like guns and abortion.
CNN: "I predict that Sen. Obama will win and win handily," Clinton said when asked his opinion on the state of the race.
Obama smiled at Clinton's prediction, saying, "There you go, you can take it from the president of the United States. He knows a little something about politics."
The two men chatted with reporters in a photo-op at Clinton's Harlem office before sitting down for a private lunch.
