Get that man an
Actors' Equity card. Bill Clinton is developing a
sideline as top performer on his wife's comic Web videos.
First was the
Sopranos send-up with the former president lamenting
the lack of onion rings at the hometown diner. Now comes a
video for young Iowa voters reassuring them that
participating in the state's caucuses on behalf of
Hillary Rodham Clinton on January 3 is simple.
It opens with
Clinton huffing on a treadmill envisioning a double
cheeseburger. Can you say typecasting?
The point?
''Exercising is hard,'' an announcer intones.
Cut to former
Iowa governor Tom Vilsack and his wife, Christy, both
Clinton backers, doing the twist. Again the announcer:
''Dancing is hard.''
Cut to Hillary
Rodham Clinton's now-famous off-key rendition of the ''The
Star-Spangled Banner.'' Cue the announcer: ''Singing is
hard.''
''Caucusing is
easy.''
Two teens appear
on-screen to explain that any one of voting age by next
year's general election can caucus. Others explain the
simplicity of it all: Remember the date, find the
proper precinct site, arrive on time, assemble in one
corner, and count off.
Caucusing, they
all say, is easy.
Cut back to Bill
Clinton. Not to give it away, but he proves that
exercising is indeed hard.
The video is a
direct appeal to young, potential caucus-goers, a voting
bloc that Barack Obama's presidential campaign has been
assiduously courting.
The Clinton
campaign is showcasing the video for supporters Thursday
evening at the Varsity Theatre in Des Moines as a preview to
the Democratic presidential debate being broadcast
from Nevada on CNN. (Jim Kuhnhenn, AP)