Democratic Convention Watch: Chuck Todd: Hillary to decide whether Bill will speak at convention

Monday, June 30, 2008

Chuck Todd: Hillary to decide whether Bill will speak at convention

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Hillary Clinton, will, of course, get to give a major speech at the Democratic Convention. It will almost surely be on the first night, Monday, so that the "Clinton story" can be put to rest and the rest of the convention focused on Obama.

But will Bill Clinton speak? I had always assumed he would speak by introducing Senator Clinton. NBC's Chuck Todd on Meet the Press isn't so sure:

Well, this is what we do know. She's going to speak. Shocking, right? But the question is how many Clintons will speak? And I think what we don't know is, is will there Clintons speaking on multiple nights? Unlikely, the Obama campaign doesn't want to have that. Senator Clinton, does she want to have President Clinton speak? And I think you're likely to see the Obama campaign leave it up to her. If she wants to have President Clinton introduce her, that's going to be fine with them. But does she? We've seen what happens when the two of them do back-to-back speeches. It's usually not that great for Senator Clinton. Maybe Chelsea Clinton introduces Senator Clinton. That's probably more likely. And we'll see some sort of almost a baton passing from one generation of Clintons to another generation of Clintons. So, I think a tribute video is in the future of President Clinton.

Not having Bill Clinton speak will be seen as a snub, no matter whether its Hillary Clinton's or Obama's decision.

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Chad_Nielson 57p · 877 weeks ago

I think it all depends onwhat Bill Clinton does and is asked to Do in the next couple months.

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DocJess 71p · 877 weeks ago

Did anyone else see this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselec...

Think it's true? If so, perhaps Bill REALLY shouldn't speak at the convention.

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Godheval 6p · 877 weeks ago

Actually, DocJess, I read an article debunking that rumor before I even read that article. Bill Clinton's spokesperson said something to the effect that people close to Bill feel entitled to speak HIS mind, but that in the end "they're just talking". Honestly, though, I can imagine Bill saying something like that off the record - but of course that won't ever be his official public position.

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Tony Bittner · 877 weeks ago

Why would either Clinton be allowed to speak at the convention? So little time will be allotted to the convention from the corporate media, and you know that MSM will want to make this convention about the Clintons and will be looking for controversy. Even if they both speak with the best of intentions (that would be a first) the media pundits will find some way to twist their words into a snipe at Barack or the media will equate applause by the convention delegates as a jab at Barack.

What possible good could come from any of the Clintons speaking? Including Chelsea?

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tmess2 · 877 weeks ago

If Hillary wants to speak, Obama basically has no choice but to let her speak. The campaign will probably respectfully request that it be about health care or something where she is clearly to his left, but you can't tell the second place candidate that they can't have a prime time speech at the convention. It just isn't done.

Dealing with Bill is sort of the Democratic equivalent to the probelm the Republicans used to have with Reagan. He is too big a figure in the party history to shut out if he wants to be involved.

My hunch says that they will both get speeches on Monday night. That will force the network to cover Monday night. Edwards might get a Monday night speech as well. That allows Tuesday to be reserved for the keynote.

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