Where’s Bill Clinton
WHERE’S Willy? It’s the latest game in town.
Last weekend, Willy Clinton was in Ireland. Dressed in a pair of draw-string Comfi Slax and a fleece, Willy was cheering on Team USA in the Ryder Cup. Yoo Ess Ay!
Then, just yesterday, Willy was spotted in a coffee shop in Piccadilly, London. He was eating a sandwich. And outside a few men in overcoats with talking sleeves were on the look out for rain, a cab or something.
And you’ll never guess where Willy turns up today? You won’t. Don’t bother trying. No, he’s not in the back of Fred Housego’s cab. Nor is he on a sofa with Richard & Judy. Hell, he’s not even at Soho’s Adonis cinema. We said not to bother.
Willy is up at the Labour conference. A day after Tony Blair’s farewell speech, Willy is adding a bit of charisma to the event.
The Telegraph catches his words. “I think one of the biggest problems right now is that people take your achievements and your ideas for the future for granted.
"The reason is we have produced prosperity and social progress for so long it’s easy for people to believe it’s just part of the landscape."
And so on. The thing with Willy is that he does have presence. As the Guardian reports, “Bill and Tony have a lot in common, as far as Tony is concerned, and the younger man watched the older with unconcealed awe and respect this afternoon.”
And Tony is not alone in hi hero worship. The Times’s sketch writer sees Willy walk on stage. He’s “the epitome of celebrity nonchalance”.
While Gordon Brown gulps for air and Tony simpers and emotes, Willy “speaks slowly with the folksy charm that makes you want to smile for no reason at all”.
He is politics’ “Dr Feelgood”, the man who can make all the pain and hurtin’ go away. He flatters “(I saw Gordon’s brilliant vision of the future”), he supports (“I heard the Prime Minister’s magnificent valedictory”) and he flatters some more (he calls the delegates “change agents” and senses “gratitude, devotion and love” in the room).
The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland is star struck. Willy’s a thoroughbred performer. Says Freedland: “It was like watching a onetime champion racehorse come out for a midday canter.”
Willy’s a racing bike: “Because Bill Clinton, even on half-throttle, is still one of the very best speakers in the world.”
And Willy’s better than Al Gore, the famous loser. Freedland says the Labour hierarchy toyed with idea of getting Gore to speak but considering that he was Willy’s No.2 and still failed, it might not reflect well on Gordon.
In any case, Willy was in town…
Posted: 28th, September 2006 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
