Bill Clinton Hammers Romney and Warns Voters Not to Be Fooled By His Lies

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:18 am

Bill Clinton is hammering Mitt Romney for saying anything in an attempt to get elected president. The former president is also warning voters not to fooled by Romney’s lies.

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Here’s the transcript:

I had a different reaction to that first debate than a lot of people did. I mean I thought – wow. Here’s old moderate Mitt. Where have you been, boy, I missed you all these last few years. But I was paying attention in the last two years, and it was like one of these Bain Capital deals, you know where he’s the closer. So he shows up, doesn’t really know much about the deals and says, tell me what I’m supposed to say to close.

The problem with this deal is the deal was made by severe conservative Mitt. That was how he described himself for two whole years, until three or four days before the debate, they all got together and said, hey, Mitt – this ship is sinking faster than the Titanic, but people are still frustrated about the economy they wanted fixed yesterday. So just show up with a sunny face and say I didn’t say all that stuff I said the last two years. I don’t have that tax plan I had for the last two years. You going to believe me or your lying eyes here? Come on! What are you doing?

And if I’d been the president I might have said, well I hate to get in the way of this. I miss you.

Bill Clinton has the Romney strategy perfectly diagnosed. Romney is going to spend the next month being all things to all people. He is going to say anything. Yesterday, moderate Mitt became pro-choice. Later his campaign walked back his remarks on abortion a couple of hours after he made them.

Some may think that Bill Clinton is a hypocrite for calling out Romney’s lies, when he lied during the Lewinsky scandal. The difference between Clinton and Romney is that Clinton didn’t lie to try to get himself elected president, and more importantly in the eyes of many, Bill Clinton lied about a personal issue.

Bill Clinton didn’t run for president either time on a platform of contradictory lies. This is an intentional strategy on the part of the Romney campaign to muddy the perception of their candidate. I suspect that the Obama campaign will be prepared for the two Romneys, and I would be looking for President Obama to draw the distinction between moderate Mitt and severe conservative Mitt.

The gentle lighthearted tone Bill Clinton demonstrated is probably the best course in dealing with a perpetual avoider of the truth like Romney.

Obama’s likability and personal approval ratings went up after the first debate. People like Obama, and if he can untangle Romney’s web of lies without seeming heavy handed or getting caught up in trying to debunk a rapid fire quagmire of falsehoods, he could have a great deal of success at the next debate.

The trump card for Obama is that people like and trust him more than Romney. If the president uses this to his advantage, he will have a very good night.

Bill Clinton is right. Romney is lying to get elected, but this is nothing new. He did it when he ran for Senate. He employed this tactic again when he ran for governor, and he has used it in both of his presidential campaigns. Bill Clinton showed Obama how to address Romney’s serial lies, without getting tangled up in them.

The Obama campaign now realizes that this election is all about Mitt Romney, and their effectiveness in dealing with Romney’s compulsive lying may determine the outcome of this contest.

The old slugger Bill Clinton knocked one over the fence. Now let’s see what Joe Biden and Barack Obama can do with the game on the line.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association