As for Huntsman, Clinton said to laughter that the former governor and Obama ambassador to China “hasn't said what he is for yet, but I just kind of like him. And he looks authentic, he looks like a real guy. I mean a real human being. I like his family... he was a pretty good governor.” Bachmann, Clinton continued, “has been a better candidate than I thought she'd be, and I don't agree with her on nearly anything, but she's got a very compelling personal story and she's got a lot of juice and she turns a lot of those anti-government crowd, the people on.”
But after assessing the Republicans, Clinton said he believed Obama would join him as the only other Democratic president since Franklin Roosevelt elected to two four-year terms. Amid widespread unease over the country’s direction, most recent polls show Obama’s approval rating hovering just below the 50 percent level that marks the traditional danger zone for an incumbent. But Clinton said: “I think that the president will be reelected. I've always thought so.”
Despite the economy’s continued struggles, Clinton said he believed Obama could make a strong economic case to the country. “He can talk about what he did do,” Clinton said. “He took steps which avoided a depression. He saved the automobile industry by not just bailing them out, but by requiring a serious restructuring.”
Moreover, Clinton continued, “I think he can talk about the fact that we have—when he took office, we had 2 percent of the global market for the electric batteries that will power the next generation of our electric cars and hybrid vehicles, and on January 1st of this year, we had 20 percent of the global market.”
Clinton said Obama could also claim credit for bridging differences both in domestic and foreign policy. At home, Clinton said, “he's done a good job in trying to harmonize America's differences” and “trying to widen the circle of opportunity.”
“I think he's got a good record on gay rights,” added Clinton, who, after being blocked in his effort to allow gays to serve openly, imposed the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy in the military, which Obama revoked. “I think he's got a good record on trying to promote diversity in a positive way.... Look at what's happening to Europe now in the wake of this economic turmoil. All the ethnic and religious tensions rising again, all the dream of the united Europe whole and free for the first time since nation states relative to the European continent at risk.”
Likewise, Clinton argued, in foreign affairs Obama will “have a lot to say about America's role in the world and, you know, he's been very tough in fighting terrorists. Long before Mr. bin Laden was dispatched, we had redeployed and had more drone attacks on terrorists where they're really a problem for us in the Pakistan-Afghanistan almost borderless region than in Iraq. So I think he'll have a good record on national security.”
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