Clinton's endorsement of Obama 'similar to Reagan's backing of doomed Bush re-election bid'

Washington, Sept. 5 (ANI): Former President Bill Clinton's endorsement of President Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention has been compared to Ronald Reagan's backing of George W. Bush's doomed re-election bid in 1992.

Jeffrey Lord, a historian and former aide to former President Ronald Reagan, said that the only instance he could recall was the speech given by Reagan as a 'private citizen' during the 1992 Republican convention, as President George H.W. Bush struggled to defend his presidency against Clinton, who eventually won.

According to the Telegraph, the prominence given by Obama to Clinton's speech this year reveals the weakness of the current President's position, as he fights to keep his job amid an ongoing unemployment crisis and sluggish economic recovery.

Four years after winning the White House race by campaigning as anti-Clinton, Obama has been forced to enlist his Democratic predecessor to style him as the enthusiastic heir to Clintonism, the report said.

"Obama needs Clinton just as Bush needed Reagan. But even Reagan couldn't save Bush - and I'm not sure Clinton can save Obama," Lord said.

According to the report, Obama has worked to repair the damaged relationship with Clinton due to his wife, Hillary's, defeat, in 2008 bitter party primary.

"I don't think they actually like each other, and they know that really they are quite different politically," Lord said, adding: "But Clinton will give him a barnstormer of a speech".

William Galston, a senior White House adviser to Clinton, said Obama's move was sensible.

"He understands that what he was doing four years ago was more pertinent to the challenges of 2008," Galston said, adding: "Like any successful politician, he has made some adjustments". (ANI)