Rendell Suggests Bill Clinton Would Have Handled Spill Differently

In an interview with The Hill, Pennsylvania's Democratic governor, Ed Rendell, suggests Bill Clinton would have been more active:

Rendell also noted a difference between Obama's style and that of the last Democratic president, a famous micromanager: "If Bill Clinton was president, he'd have been in a wetsuit, you know, trying to get down to see the spill," the governor said with a laugh.

Rendell was speaking about the role of perceptions in the political oil-spill fallout; it seems to be a reference to Obama's cool personal demeanor. He said the continued gushing of oil isn't the government's fault.

A Democratic heavyweight from the labor-infused Keystone State, Rendell endorsed Hillary Clinton and stumped for her during the 2008 Democratic primaries. (She won Pennsylvania.) He's been a strong Obama backer ever since.

Meanwhile, President Obama is beating back at the impression that his administration hasn't done enough about the spill. "Those who think that we were either slow in our responses or lacked urgency don't know the facts," Obama said today during a news conference at the White House, stating plainly that he is fully engaged in the crisis and has been since day one.