I've been watching Bill Clinton give speeches for quite a while, and I think I have a fairly good sense of when he's having a good time on the stump.
And I'm reasonably confident that yesterday in Las Vegas, the former president was having a good time.
For those who can't watch clips online, here's what Clinton said:
"I had a different reaction to that first debate than a lot of people did. I mean I thought, 'Wow, here's old Moderate Mitt. Where have you been, boy, I missed you all these last few years!'
"But I was paying attention in the last two years, and it was like one of these Bain Capital deals -- you know where he's the closer. So he shows up, doesn't really know much about the deals and says, 'Tell me what I'm supposed to say to close.'
"Now, the problem with this deal is the deal was made by 'Severe Conservative' Mitt. That was how he described himself for two whole years. Until three or four days before the debate, they all got together and said, 'Hey, Mitt, this ship is sinking faster than the Titanic, but people are still frustrated about the economy, they want it fixed yesterday. So just show up with a sunny face and say, 'I didn't say all that stuff I said the last two years. I don't have that tax plan I had for the last two years. You gonna believe me or your lying eyes here? Come on! What are you doing?' And if I'd been the president I might have said, 'Well I hate to get in the way of this. I miss you.'"
I should note that this is one of those clips in which the transcript really doesn't do the comments justice. To appreciate the mocking tone, one really must watch this one.
Clinton's event drew 2,000 people, and was held in support of President Obama and other Democratic candidates.
