Bill Clinton makes supporters jump to their feet in Nevada

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3350900.ece

As the next round in the bruising Democratic nomination battle looms today in the land of casino neon and desert retirement homes, the former president and prospective First Gentleman has been in his element. He has torn through schoolhouse meetings and convention halls to plead the case for his wife with his trademark charm, razor-sharp intelligence and an unwavering ability to distill his points into a few expertly crafted catchphrases.

At a meeting in Henderson, a sprawling suburb 10 miles south-east of Las Vegas, Clinton hammered home the familiar talking points – that Hillary has the most experience, and the best track record of achievement – with a freshness and an enthusiasm that had the staid, mostly middle-class, white audience leaping to its feet. He had just come from a very similar meeting in Boulder City, another few miles towards the Arizona border, and was racing to address a Latino rally in Las Vegas, but Bill didn't care: he was loving the chance to talk, and feeding off the excitement he was generating.

"Even if I had never been married to Hillary," he said, "and she asked me to campaign for her, I would do it in a heartbeat." He then proceeded to explain why: she had fought for children and health care since she was a student; she had proved effective in the Senate despite a singularly hostile Republican-dominated environment; and she had shown an ability to keep pushing even in the wake of failures, like her ill-fated attempt to reform the American healthcare system in the early 1990s.

Neither of the other two main candidates, he said, had anything like her record of achievement. "The presidency is about making changes in other people's lives," he said. "What do you want in the end? A world-class change-maker, or someone who's just a change?"