Evansville (Ill.) Courier & Press wrote Sept. 29 on Bill Clinton and Republicans:
Former President Bill Clinton is justifiably known for his political and psychological resilience. Not for nothing is he known as the Comeback Kid.
But what happened recently at a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York would have sent a lesser man crashing to the floor of the Sheraton Hotel ballroom with a severe case of whiplash.
Clinton, whom the GOP strove mightily to evict from office, is being favorably invoked, even courted, by Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee. Standing by the former president's side, Romney said, "If there's one thing we've learned in this election season, by the way, is that a few words from Bill Clinton can do a man a lot of good."
He was referring to Clinton's speech in support of President Barack Obama at the Democratic convention, which resulted in a slight boost - a "bounce," in political parlance - in the polls.
Joked Romney, "All I got to do now is wait a few days for that bounce to happen."
Such comments from a leading Republican would have been unimaginable 13 and 14 years ago, when congressional Republicans were striving mightily to drive Bill Clinton from office. Thanks to their efforts, he became only the second U.S. president, after Andrew Johnson, to be impeached. ...
Then as now, it was a time of bitter partisanship by House Republicans who found no charge too outlandish or outrageous to hurl at the president. To be fair, the Clintons gave them lots of ammunition with Travelgate, Chinagate, Hillary Clinton's missing billing records, Bill Clinton's womanizing...
Now Clinton has come back once again - to re-elect Obama. Notice that, unlike during the debates early this year, Romney didn't offer to make a $10,000 bet on the outcome.
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