Bitter Bill: A Very Sore LoserBill Clinton refuses to say Barack Obama is 'ready' for White House
Even after his wife has dropped out of the presidential race, Bill Clinton has had only tepid praise for Barack Obama.
BY MICHAEL McAULIFF DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Updated Monday, August 4th 2008, 5:01 PM
Sullivan/Getty
WASHINGTON - Bill Clinton regrets some things he said - and didn't say - on the campaign trail. But there's one thing he still can't utter: Barack Obama is ready to be President.
"You can argue that nobody is ready to be President," the former President told ABC News. "You can argue that even if you've been vice president for eight years, that no one can be fully ready for the pressures of the office," Clinton said Monday during a visit to Rwanda.
That's probably not what Team Obama wanted to hear from the former commander in chief, whose role in Obama's election push and at the Democratic National Convention remains in flux. Team Obama has said Clinton will be an asset, but so far he and the Illinois senator have spoken only once, by phone, since the primaries ended - a fact that has peeved some Obama supporters.
Bubba's backers concede his unwillingness to say his party's nominee is ready to sit in the Oval Office was a faux pas.
"The political answer is to just say, 'Yes,' period," said Democratic strategist Chris Lehane. "But as a former President, he has a special perspective on what it takes." Clinton couldn't just say the political thing, Lehane added, because he's still smarting from Hillary Clinton's bitter defeat.
Bill Clinton is a bitter man. It is impossible for him to feign enthusiasm for the Obamessiah's presidential bid. And you will never hear Clinton give Obama a sincere, unconditional statement of support for his candidacy or fitness for office.
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