The Big Dog Barks...and Barks...and Barks

Bill is in the hizzle!

So Obama did something that I think is shrewd.  He brings out Bill Clinton to tout the tax deal.  Here's why I think it's shrewd.

1) Read John Cole's post here.  He's right.  This is a messy deal.  Hard to understand.  I like this part, but not this part.  Will this part come back to bite us a year from now.  Bringing out what amounts to a celebrity endorsement is a slick move.  Especially since Obama is specifically stopping a return to Clinton era levels of taxation.

2) Clinton is getting a lot of play right now, what with Obama being in a very similar situation to '94.  Why not bring out someone who has pretty high retroactive job approval ratings right now.  Obama is basically counting on the economy returning to health and carrying him to a second term.  Why not explicitly link yourself to the last guy to walk that road.

3) There has been so much talk of Bush in the last few weeks, since we're talking about his tax cuts.  For the record, I thought his tax cuts were appalling for just this reason: you don't run deficits when times are good, so that you can run them when times are bad.  It's a good idea to remind people that the last time the economy was good was when a Democrat was in the White House.

4) Finally, I cracked up when I heard that Obama eventually left the room to go to some holiday parties and left Clinton in there to have one of his epic Clintothons.  Obama and Clinton are both wicked smart, but Obama is so much more reserved than Clinton.  Clinton is the undisciplined genius of the late night bull session.  Obama is the well crafted essay.  Frankly they complement each other well.

Clinton could have used some of Obama's self-control.  But Obama might learn a few things about messaging from Clinton, that and how to work with a recalcitrant GOP Congress.

Interestingly, another post at Balloon Juice was talking about how Clinton always seemed ecstatic about signing whatever shit Gingrich put in front of him.  If Obama signs the tax bill, I have no doubt that he will look up and say that he disagrees with many parts of the deal, but it was in the best interest of millions of Americans that it passes.

Clinton was always selling himself.  Obama seems always to be selling reality.