Former president Bill Clinton appears this evening on “Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007.” ABC has sent out some advance excerpts, some of which are pretty amusing.
The biggest news, I suppose, is that he says he’d only sit in cabinet meetings if asked.
If his wife wins the 2008 presidential election, would the former president sit in on cabinet meetings? “Only if asked,” Clinton told Walters. “And I think it would only be wise if it were on a specific issue. I think it’s better for me to give her my advice privately most of the time.”
Clinton says he would weigh in if he disagreed with a decision his wife planned to made as president, “but when she made it, I’d do my best to support it,” he said. “I’d keep my mouth shut.”
Who’s smarter, Bill or Hill?
“Mr. President, is your wife really smarter than you are?” Walters asked.
“About some things,” said Clinton. “We have different kinds of intelligence. She has a great organizational intelligence, and we’ve always worked well together. & I said the other day — we celebrated our 32nd anniversary — I’d rather spend the night talking to her than anybody I can think of.”
His election predictions:
As for who the next president will be, Clinton can’t be objective when it comes to the Democrats, but who does he believe is the strongest Republican presidential candidate?
“I can’t tell, but I think that McCain has a lot of appeal, and I think that he seems to be making a little bit of a comeback, and he seems to be liberated by the awful abuse that he got at the hands of his own campaign people. The way they squandered his money and all that, was terrible. But he seems free again,” said Clinton. “And we disagree on many things, but I think he’s a big figure. So he might be the most electable. I don’t know if he can be nominated.”
Bill Clinton, First Gentlemen?
Should Hillary win, would Clinton be willing to take on traditional “first spouse” duties, such as the annual Easter Egg Hunt and the White House Christmas decorations? “You know, I’d actually like doing that,” Clinton told Walters. “If I’m asked to do that, I would love to do that.”
And would this former president welcome the title of first gentleman? “I really don’t care what I’m called,” Clinton said. “I got to be president for eight years. People can call me whatever they want.”
And they do! He’s very good at these things.
Some video clips, along with annoying ads, are here.
