Bill Clinton Comes to Obama’s Rescue

He could have had three terms if U.S. practice didn’t forbid it. Bill Clinton’s popularity has never wavered, even 11 years after leaving the White House. Al Gore, who distanced himself from the president and paid a high price for it, knows very well the weight that Clinton carries with all sides of the American public.

Barack Obama, a finer politician than Gore, the heir of Tennessee, may have to thank Bill if he remains in the Oval Office.

Obama was Bill’s fiercest opponent while he was campaigning for Hillary Clinton, but at the end of the presidential campaign, one night in the first days of November and 48 hours before the fateful day, Bill shared the stage with him in Florida; Barack in his shirt sleeves, Bill in a coat, to support Obama and give him the “final push” that would bring him to the White House. During these last four years he has assisted and advised the 44th president whenever he could.

This time, right as the campaign is beginning to get serious, Bill has published a book entitled “Back to Work,” in support of Obama’s economic policy. Bill decided to write out of frustration. Exasperated at seeing Obama unable to explain his economic policy and, in particular, his bill on job creation, the last Democratic president has decided to defend Obama’s policy himself.

Relations have not always been cordial between the two men. For example, Bill supported Obama’s opponent during his campaign for the Illinois Senate seat, following criticism by the young politician against the Democratic president.

Clinton spends an hour each day studying the economic situation by reading statistics columns and economic journals. He excels where Obama, contrary to popular opinion, doesn’t: In storytelling, the discourse that gives meaning to action. This is the intention of “Back to Work”: To create a narrative around the current economic situation to put it into perspective for American voters, especially those in the center, the electorate to whom Bill, better than anyone else, knows how to speak. The words of a president who left the White House with an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent will carry a lot of weight when, this time next year, every vote counts.