Post-Primaries, Bill Hits Road to Recovery

In Africa for his charity, ex-Prez says he 'couldn't be happier'
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 3, 2008 11:49 AM CDT
Post-Primaries, Bill Hits Road to Recovery
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty shakes hands with former President Bill Clinton after Clinton spoke at the National Governors' Association centennial meeting, Saturday, July, 12, 2008, in Philadelphia.    (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

After a brutal primary race peppered with “YouTube moments” that tarnished his image, Bill Clinton is back to work, traveling through Africa in support of his charity. “This is my life now, and I was eager to get back to it,” the former president told the Washington Post in an interview. He said little about his campaign gaffes and kept praise of Barack Obama to a minimum.

“Next year, you and I, and everybody else will be freer and have more space to say what we believe to be the truth,” Clinton said, alluding to the primary season in which he was repeatedly criticized for hurting his wife's campaign with impolitic outbursts. He said participation in the primaries had been “a privilege” and called Obama “smart” and “a good politician." Now, he says, he “couldn’t be happier” in his current work. “They don't call him the comeback kid for nothing,” said ex-Hillary strategist Mark Penn. (More Bill Clinton stories.)

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