Subdued Clinton in campaign debut not mad at anyone
FORMER PRESIDENT MAKES ONLY GLANCING REFERENCES TO HILLARY’S OPPONENTS
Eight years after aggressively defending his wife during her first presidential campaign, Bill Clinton was unusually understated and subdued on Monday during his first solo swing back in New Hampshire for Hillary Clinton, restraining himself even in the face of taunts from Donald Trump.
Sticking mostly to descriptions of Hillary Clinton’s policy positions and biography, the former president made only glancing references to her opponents, saying that some were “kind of scary” but not naming names. He also suggested that he would not thrive politically today because he was not “mad at anybody,” an implicit jab at Trump’s harsh attacks on Muslims and others — and a signal that Trump had not gotten under Bill Clinton’s skin.
With Trump campaigning Monday night just across the state line in Lowell, Massachusetts, Clinton did not bring up his one-time friend’s recent attacks on Clinton’s history of extramarital affairs. But after the first of his two campaign events, Clinton did respond to a reporter’s question about whether his own past was “fair game” to talk about in the race.
“The Republicans have to decide who they want to nominate,” Clinton replied. “I think there’s always attempts to take the election away from people, so I’m just going to give it to them.”
If Clinton was champing at the bit to attack Trump, he gave no sign of it Monday.
Clinton, famed as the Big Dog of American politics, seemed to be on a tight leash during his appearances in Nashua and Exeter, delivering performances far different from the ones he gave in 2008, when some Democrats criticised him for overshadowing Hillary Clinton with his attacks on then-Senator Barack Obama.
Clinton did not just keep his well-known temper in check: He even stopped shaking hands and signing autographs after brief forays on the rope line, at which he has been known to spend an hour. It was one of several signs that, at least for this first trip, that Clinton was willing to play the role of supporting actor opposite his wife’s starring role.