Some compare him to a rock star, others to a shmoozer with no decency. But like him or not, Bill Clinton was the last President of the USA to preside over big economic growth. That is the message that he will be driving home to Americans as he delivers the keynote speech tonight at the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The last decade of the 1900s was a golden time for America. The internet blossomed and with it the petals of e-commerce opened. Silicon Valley became world famous, and America was again viewed as the land of opportunity. Bill Clinton got to benefit from the momentous change in economy, and together with the Unethical Amphibian, passed the first balanced budget in 1998 since 1968.
But at the same time, Clinton was sucked into a mess of affairs, scandal, and perjury which the Republicans exploited to maximum gain. Entirely responsible, all Clinton could do was try to smooth it over. His popularity today shows that he succeeded.
Now he will appear at the convention to remind Americans that it is the Democrats who are most capable to steer the economy in the right direction, and that the misguided tax cutting of the Bush years served to only create so much debt that we pushed past $16 trillion yesterday. He will remind people that economics is not helping the rich pay less taxes, but about creating a place where people want to live, regardless of the costs.
Bill Clinton will nominate Barack Obama as the official candidate for the Democratic party tonight, and if Obama is reelected and enjoys a second term that was as economically successful as Clinton’s, we will be in for a good four years.
