# Bill Clinton: net positive or net negative for Hillary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 23, 2016, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-clinton-net-positive-or-net-negative-for-hillary/749919 "2016-03-23T05:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-clinton-net-positive-or-net-negative-for-hillary/749919/61 "2016-03-24T12:40:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > They already had three. There were only 52 Democratic votes for the DREAM ACT. They had 59. five voted no, two decided they really wanted to be somewhere else. They got 55 in the end, because three Republicans voted for cloture. Given that there was a majority for the DREAM Act, that vote for cloture was a vote for the bill. So they had those three Republicans already. That means they needed only 57 Democrats. If they could get 60 Democrats for health care, why couldn’t they get 57 for the DREAM Act? Because some of the Democrats were assholes. But so were all the Republicans who had supported it in the past, and who only opposed it (as proved by their continual opposition in later instances, no matter the procedural rules used by Reid) because their leadership demanded obstructing Obama as the greatest priority. I wish Democrats had handled it differently – better tactics might have worked. But they tried to get it done – their mistakes and missteps on this issue are _far, far less severe and significant_ than the Republican opposition. Based on polling, as well as discussions with pro-immigration voters (Latino and otherwise), the Republicans are the ones likely to suffer electorally for this issue. They don’t blame Obama because he was on their side, even if his tactics were less than perfect. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-clinton-net-positive-or-net-negative-for-hillary/749919/62 "2016-04-14T04:01:18Z")
The New Republic on why Bill Clinton tends to sabotage Hillary’s efforts: > **[The Burden of Bill Clinton’s Baggage](https://newrepublic.com/article/132601/burden-bill-clintons-baggage)** > > Why does he keep dragging Hillary Clinton back to the 1990s? It's more political than psychological. > [@](#): > > Bill and Hillary Clinton are in different stages of their political careers, and they have divergent interests. He wants to preserve his legacy, while she is trying to build hers. He is defending what he did as president, while she is trying to win the presidency. He is living in the 1990s, while she is living in the present. > > The contrast between the two Clintons’ agendas became acute at the rally last week when Black Lives Matter protesters held the former president to account for his 1994 crime bill, which the activists blamed (as many justifiably do) for worsening America’s incarceration problem. Bill Clinton responded defensively, using rhetoric that veered all too close to conservative arguments that “black-on-black crime” is the core problem, and focusing on the criminal justice system is a distraction. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-clinton-net-positive-or-net-negative-for-hillary/749919/63 "2016-04-14T04:09:14Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The New Republic on why Bill Clinton tends to sabotage Hillary’s efforts: > > [The Burden of Bill Clinton’s Baggage | The New Republic](https://newrepublic.com/article/132601/burden-bill-clintons-baggage) This makes some sense, especially in the primary. But looking towards the general, going after BLM activists for defending violent thugs who’s victims were black, like Bill was doing, is a winning tactic. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-clinton-net-positive-or-net-negative-for-hillary/749919/64 "2016-04-14T05:11:42Z")
Most definitely. Which is why he’ll probably be turned loose for real after the convention for some good old fashioned hippie punching. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-clinton-net-positive-or-net-negative-for-hillary/749919.md?page=3)