John Heilemann: Clinton’s Hands Are ‘Like the Paintbrushes of Picasso’
John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, authors of the controversial 2008 campaign book Game Change, have a new show on Bloomberg called With All Due Respect and the two liberal journalists seem to be using their platform to continue the media fawning over President Bill Clinton.
On their Tuesday show, the two hosts gushed over a campaign speech Clinton gave on behalf of Arkansas Democrat Senator Mark Pryor and Heilemann proclaimed of Clinton’s hands: “they’re like the paintbrushes of Picasso. He just uses them as an artistic expression mode.”
Heilemann began the segment entitled “Political Science Theater” by cheering Clinton's speech:
Bill Clinton is back in the Razorback State, his home state, and there is so much good material that he produced while he was down there that there is literally not enough room in this show to go over all of it. But there’s time to go over some of it and it really was quite fantastic so we’re going to talk for a few minutes now about Clinton’s speech today in Fayetteville.
The segment consisted of the hosts watching a portion of Clinton’s speech while periodically making comments on the content and style of the speech:
MARK HALPERIN: The wagging finger.
JOHN HEILEMANN: That’s a great way to start it.
HALPERIN: Look at the simultaneous nodding of Pryor and Ross
HEILEMANN: Fantastic. The hands, they’re like the paintbrushes of Picasso. He just uses them as an artistic expression mode.
HALPERIN: He’s doing this thing he did yesterday where he talks about how Republicans are scamming the voters of Arkansas by saying protests against President Obama.
HEILEMANN: The thing about Clinton is everybody thinks he’s a great improviser, and he is a great improviser, but he also hones these speeches. He spent so much time working them and reworking them, and taking a line when it works, and figuring out what’s better about it and then making it better the next day, and better the next day, and better the next day. He’s like a great editor in addition to being a great spontaneous orator.
HALPERIN: I love these kids in the back who have literally never seen anything like this. Ross gets the photo in.
President Clinton has been out of office for fourteen years but the liberal media love affair with the Arkansas Democrat lives on and Mark Halperin and John Heilemann seem to be eagerly leading the pro-Clinton cheerleading.
See relevant transcript below.
Bloomberg
With All Due Respect
October 7, 2014
JOHN HEILEMANN: As we were just discussing, Bill Clinton is back in the Razorback State, his home state, and there is so much good material that he produced while he was down there that there is literally not enough room in this show to go over all of it. But there’s time to go over some of it and it really was quite fantastic so we’re going to talk for a few minutes now about Clinton’s speech today in Fayetteville, Arkansas in this edition of “Political Science Theater.”
MARK HALPERIN: The wagging finger.
HEILEMANN: That’s a great way to start it.
HALPERIN: Look at the simultaneous nodding of Pryor and Ross
HEILEMANN: Fantastic. The hands, they’re like the paintbrushes of Picasso. He just uses them as an artistic expression mode.
HALPERIN: He’s doing this thing he did yesterday where he talks about how Republicans are scamming the voters of Arkansas by saying protests against President Obama.
HEILEMANN: The thing about Clinton is everybody thinks he’s a great improviser, and he is a great improviser, but he also hones these speeches. He spent so much time working them and reworking them, and taking a line when it works, and figuring out what’s better about it and then making it better the next day, and better the next day, and better the next day. He’s like a great editor in addition to being a great spontaneous orator.
HALPERIN: I love these kids in the back who have literally never seen anything like this. Ross gets the photo in.
HEILEMANN: I like it when he [sic] the internet.
HALPERIN: He didn’t [sic] the internet, somebody printed it for him. Yesterday he said the story was on Real Clear Politics today it was on the Daily Beast.
HEILEMANN: It’s all the same to him.
HALPERIN: So much Arkansas nostalgia on this trip. Heartfelt and also incredibly effective.
HEILEMANN: Ah, there it is. And that’s just working the reverse anti-rural prejudice thing there. It’s kind of like don’t call us bumpkins you—
HALPERIN: City slicker.
HEILEMANN: You city slicker.
HALPERIN: You outsider.
HEILEMANN: Who are running this scam against us, you know.
HALPERIN: Oh, yes it does.
— Jeffrey Meyer is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Jeffrey Meyer on Twitter.
