Politics
Election 2012: Obama campaign to use Bill Clinton in key role at Democratic convention
The vice president’s speech will focus on outlining many of the challenges the White House has faced over the past four years and the decisions Obama made to address them, officials said.
“To us it’s about deploying our assets in the most effective way,” Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said. “To have President Clinton on Wednesday night laying out the choice facing voters, and then having Vice President Biden speak right before the president in prime time on Thursday, giving a testimony to the decisions the president has made, the character of his leadership and the battle to rebuild the middle class that’s so central to our message.”
Clinton’s role at the convention was to be formally announced Monday. It was first reported by The New York Times.
Clinton spoke at the 2008 convention, part of a healing process for the Democratic party following the heated primary battle between Obama and the former president’s wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Since then, the ties between Obama and Bill Clinton have strengthened significantly. Obama has called on the former president for advice several times during his term and the two have appeared together this year at campaign fundraisers for Obama’s re-election bid.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
