Exeter: Eight years after aggressively defending his wife during her first presidential campaign, Bill Clinton was unusually understated and subdued on Monday during his first solo swing back in New Hampshire for Hillary Clinton, restraining himself even in the face of taunts from Donald Trump.
Sticking mostly to descriptions of Hillary Clinton’s policy positions and biography, the former president made only glancing references to her opponents, saying that some were “kind of scary” but not naming names. He also suggested that he would not thrive politically today because he was not “mad at anybody,” an implicit jab at Trump’s harsh attacks on Muslims and others — and a signal that Trump had not gotten under Bill Clinton’s skin.
With Trump campaigning Monday night just across the state line in Lowell, Massachusetts, Clinton did not bring up his one-time friend’s recent attacks on Clinton’s history of extramarital affairs. But after the first of his two campaign events, Clinton did respond to a reporter’s question about whether his own past was “fair game” to talk about in the race.
“The Republicans have to decide who they want to nominate,” Clinton replied. “I think there’s always attempts to take the election away from people, so I’m just going to give it to them.”
If Clinton was champing at the bit to attack Trump, he gave no sign of it Monday.
Clinton, famed as the Big Dog of American politics, seemed to be on a tight leash during his appearances in Nashua and Exeter, delivering performances far different from the ones he gave in 2008, when some Democrats criticised him for overshadowing Hillary Clinton with his attacks on then-Sen. Barack Obama. Clinton did not just keep his well-known temper in check: He even stopped shaking hands and signing autographs after brief forays on the rope line, at which he has been known to spend an hour. It was one of several signs that, at least for this first trip, that Clinton was willing to play the role of supporting actor opposite his wife’s starring role.
If Bill Clinton had a theme, it was portraying Hillary Clinton and himself as high-minded advocates of “inclusive” policies rather than exclusionary proposals like Trump’s call for temporarily barring Muslims from entering the United States. Clinton used the word “inclusive” repeatedly at both events as he argued that the tenor of the presidential race was often nasty and that the candidates were not focused on the needs of average Americans.
“I don’t fit anymore,” Bill Clinton said about the current political climate. “First of all, I’m a happy grandfather. I’m not mad at anybody.”
Clinton appeared a little rusty, rambling at times during his first campaign rally at Nashua Community College as he delivered long anecdotes about a Muslim man who had fought gunmen in his New York City store and other Muslims who had stood up for Christians. “We don’t want to run away from the place we’ve been — the place that welcomes all people,” he said in his most direct shot at Trump.
Advisers to Bill Clinton said he was focused on making the best case possible for why Hillary Clinton should be president, rather than delivering stemwinders or playing attack dog. Political allies of Clinton added that he did not feel the need to attack, in part because he did not see Hillary Clinton’s opponents as serious threats to her at this point.
Several members of the audience said after the speech in Nashua that they were struck by Clinton’s relatively muted style, but added that they were impressed that he kept much of the focus on his wife.
“He was low-key in a down-to-earth way, which I think is the right thing to do, because the limelight should be on Hillary,” said Gail DuFresne, 59, a nurse from Rindge.
Clinton delivered largely the same remarks later Monday at the town hall here, but his delivery was crisper if still low-key. Clinton championed several of Hillary Clinton’s priorities like equal pay for women, saying that it was an “economic strategy” that particularly would help young people struggling with college loan repayments.
“Having lost it, I can tell you: Youth matters,” Clinton said to some laughter and applause.
Karen Janes, an Exeter resident who has voted Republican for years but is supporting Hillary Clinton now, said that she appreciated Bill Clinton “for keeping to the facts.”
“I don’t need a rah-rah-rah kind of speech,” Janes said. “The clowns on the Republican side can be loud like that.”
