The Spectacle Blog
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — How did Bill Clinton manage to run nearly 20 minutes past the scheduled end of his speech to the Democratic National Convention? Simple: He ad-libbed extensively, thus chewing up 48 minutes with what was supposed to have been a half-hour speech.
White House staffers reportedly had edited Clinton’s advance text for length, but when he started talking, he evidently decided to add back in a lot of what had been cut out. Dashiell Bennett of The Atlantic Monthly did a line-by-line comparison of the scripted version and what Clinton actually said, demonstrating the maestro’s method for hogging the spotlight. For example, the prepared, White House-approved text of Clinton’s remarks had him saying this:
When times are tough, constant conflict may be good politics but in the real world, cooperation works better. After all, nobody’s right all the time, and a broken clock is right twice a day. All of us are destined to live our lives between those two extremes.
That’s 47 words. What Clinton actually said was much longer:
And so here’s what I want to say to you, and here’s what I want the people at home to think about. When times are tough, and people are frustrated and angry and hurting and uncertain, the politics of constant conflict may be good. But what is good politics does not necessarily work in the real world. What works in the real world is cooperation. What works in the real world is cooperation, business and government, foundations and universities. Ask the mayors who are here. Los Angeles is getting green and Chicago is getting an infrastructure bank because Republicans and Democrats are working together to get it. They didn’t check their brains at the door. They didn’t stop disagreeing, but their purpose was to get something done. Now, why is this true? Why does cooperation work better than constant conflict? Because nobody’s right all the time, and a broken clock is right twice a day. And every one of us — every one of us and every one of them, we’re compelled to spend our fleeting lives between those two extremes, knowing we’re never going to be right all the time and hoping we’re right more than twice a day.
That’s 199 words — four times as long as the scripted version, and by such on-the-fly additions to his official text, Clinton managed to push past the scheduled 11 p.m. Eastern end of his speech and extend his time on stage by an extra 18 minutes.
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Pelleas| 9.6.12 @ 6:58PM
And it matters to you Wing-Nuts, EXACTLY WHY??
..if President Clinton had spoken for 5 minutes...or an hour.. y'all would have dissed him, regardless....
Bob Grant| 9.6.12 @ 7:42PM
PainintheAss,
He did it increase his ratings of viewers waiting for him to finish to watch their local news.
It's just another form of cheating by a former leader of the Cheater Party.
I'm sure obama will follow suit tonight.
Kingofthenet| 9.6.12 @ 11:25PM
Yup, they don't like MASTERS making the Case....
Rich D| 9.6.12 @ 11:44PM
See yesterday's Lord article for a reply from me to your rant.
CJW| 9.6.12 @ 7:23PM
Clinton is the perfect example for the moral bankrupty of the current Dem party.
The Dems are evenly split on whether the word "God" and Jerusalem as the capital of Israel should be in the platoform. They are really focusing on the economy ruined by Obama and the 6 Trillion Obama debt.
The Dems are in such bad shape, having ruined the economy, being obsessed with condoms and killing babies, that it is fitting they are proud to have a serial harasser, rapist, liar, perjurer, and disbarred attorney to nominate Obama. Was Rev Wright or Billy Ayers unavailable?
So they have Bubba, who inherited a good economy from Bush, that was increasing at 5% in the last 92 quarter, but tried to ruin it with Hillarycare and a tax increase. Fortunately, the Reps won in 1994, forced welfare reform and forced a balanced budget.
Then Bubba became busy dodging subpoenas, lying in depositions, harassing 20 year old employees, and groping Kathleeen Wiley that he did not have much time to ruin the economy.
And he was so busy he did not have time to respond to the 1993 WTC attack, the attacks on the Cole, the embassies, the Khobar Towers,and passed on capturing Osama.
Had Bubba done his job there would not have been a 9/11.
He could not even get his VP elected.
And this is the best the Dems could present? They should shun him.
Dai Alanye | 9.6.12 @ 8:11PM
It's not natural for Willy to lie succinctly.
Bob Grant| 9.6.12 @ 8:41PM
It depends on what the meaning of the word succinctly is.
Occam's Tool| 9.7.12 @ 10:33AM
I didn't watch. Too busy doing lab monitoring, med management, and continuing medical education.
Cut spending (starting with NPR and cowboy poetry). Cut taxes, as lower tax rates equal HIGHER government income within the range we are discussing. Bash our enemies, as rubble don't make trouble, and support our friends. Eschew "Nation Building," stick to "Nation Breaking."
Get out of the American People's way and let their genius shine.
Romney/Ryan want to do this. Obama/Biden don't have a clue. That's it. No amount of sophism by a satyriatic psychopath can change this simple fact.
The Dems are despicable. They are no longer the party of FDR.
SYAsked| 10.13.12 @ 11:19PM
Since he, apparently, helped Obama at the Democratic Convention, he is being dragged out again. The women he abused must love seeing him. I do not expect him to join in the chorus saying that Republicans have a War on Women.
Someone's crazy, here.
SYAsked| 10.13.12 @ 11:19PM
Did anyone have trouble guessing who I was posting about?