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Controversy erupts over DNC vote to change Party platform

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    Reaction from The Hill's A.B. Stoddard

  • Duration 6:11
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More on the democratic platform fight let's bring in AB Stoddard.

Associate editor for -- -- so is this as Dick Durbin described it.

A -- full -- to fight over the missing language in the in a platform.

Well I think platform fights are usually over things that are.

Insignificant.

Ultimately candidates often running for president.

Have disagreements with language that -- in the platform.

Platform is left of the party -- -- easily too.

Talk there's lots of fights from disparate groups within the coalitions of both parties -- draft those platforms is became an enormous distraction.

And as you mentioned the president decided he had to intervene.

And -- and put aside this show it was just a distraction a party couldn't afford so.

If you look at the Republican side they -- had a distraction with a platform language on abortion that different from -- -- Mitt Romney's position.

But this is this happens a lot.

I think it was a stupid mistake and they tried to rectify -- they're hoping people were not watching.

That platform fight at five in the afternoon who are swing persuade -- voters.

They're hoping he was watching Bill Clinton later on in the night -- it certainly is a distraction.

And it's unnecessary it's really sort of the classic definition of an unforced error.

Well Bill Clinton got up there and made a very impassioned defense of President Obama.

Here's what he had to say about the job.

Of the of the task I guess it was left to President Obama starting in 2009.

I had the same thing happen.

In 1994.

And early 95.

We can say that the policies were working.

That the economy was growing.

But most people didn't feel it yet.

-- believe.

1996.

The economy was roaring everybody felt it.

And we were halfway through the longest peacetime expansion in the history of the United States.

Bit -- fifth time.

Is purely in the circumstances.

President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did.

Listen to me they.

Know present.

No president.

Not me.

Not any of my predecessors.

No one could have fully repaired all the damage that he found it just more.

Well a couple of a couple of questions about that AB I mean first of all it when you take a look back at the statistics when Ronald Reagan took office.

Unemployment was eight point 2% it actually increased somewhat during the first couple of months of his term.

I think we have the statistics -- to show people and by the time Ronald Reagan's first term ended unemployment was down at around 6%.

Same thing for the okay there there you see the down a quarter of one point 28% per year.

The same thing with the inflation rate the inflation rate when Ronald Reagan took office was thirteen I'm sorry eleven point 8%.

And then by the time he -- he ended his first term.

It was down four point 7% clearly there -- presidents who have faced challenges at least as great as those faced by President Obama.

Well President Clinton disagrees with that assessment meaning he -- he is -- it's a very tough.

Question it's a potent question are Republicans are asking voters now are you better off than you were four years -- voters who are not remembering how scared they were at that time.

An emergency bailout 700000 jobs disappearing every month.

They just know that they're mad it's not good enough right now they don't see getting better fast enough so that's very strong headwind.

For President Obama to go up against and convince and they're better off.

What President Clinton did for him last night was try to re -- the terms and say.

I am a former president and I can tell you that unlike Reagan or or anyone else -- Obama inherited something far worse.

And much more damage economy something it.

You know we haven't seen since the great depression and it was not possible and I as a former president can tell you that to reverse this and we have had a former governor congressmen.

Telling him and everyone else it should have been cleaned up and three years.

That is.

That is something Obama can't say for himself so that's why it was such a powerful validation for President Obama to the Democrats in this hall.

And they loved -- but even President Obama said he should clean it up in three years and he knew what the numbers were back then here's what he said in 2009.

One nice thing about.

The situation I find myself -- is that I will be held accountable if I don't have this done in three years.

Then there's going to be a one term proposition.

So while the sudden does -- need for more.

Well you know in the same -- that he made that comments had a ten Matt Lauer he also pledged to fiscal responsibility summit at the White House that he was gonna cut the deficit in half during his term.

And he hasn't done that either there a string of broken promises that he is trying to defend himself on and his answer is always the same that the recession was greater and deeper -- he understood at the time.

People don't think that this recovery is happening fast enough it's a jobless recovery that's not good enough for them so this is really a fight.

President Obama I think is happy to be in parity in the polls with Mitt Romney and it's a tight fight and I think in this economy.

It's surprising he's doing this well Romney's gonna make an argument after two more bad jobs report or not you know satisfactory jobs reports that this is not good enough.

There are a remaining portion of the electorate for suitable voters who might be persuaded to vote for Romney and vote present a -- out of office but at this point.

They are holding -- the argument that this is a choice not a referendum on his record it was harder than they -- and so far if you look at the polls.

Enough people are buying it will see what they decide 61 days from now AB Stoddard from the hill thank you thank you a John Roberts --

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