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Bill Clinton, Still the Charmer-in-Chief

Politico has a wonderful little article on Bill Clinton today. There's almost no analysis, just the sights and sounds of Bill Clinton wandering a state fair while ostensibly campaigning for his wife. Take a look if you'd like. Here's a neat moment.

At the state fair, Bill finally makes his way to where Hillary and her press corps are waiting, in a shed with enormous pumpkins the size of beanbag chairs. The blue-ribbon-winning pumpkin is an incredible 1,004 pounds.

I ask Bill Clinton if the famous watermelons in Hope, Ark., his hometown, ever get this big.

"Watermelons don’t get this big," he says. "Last one I saw was some 270 pounds. That’s a big watermelon."

He talks about pumpkins and watermelons — are you surprised that he knows about pumpkins and watermelons? — and how these competition fruits cannot have any holes or breaks in the skin.

"It's seeds plus soil plus care," he says. "Too much water and the skin breaks and you are eliminated. Use too little, and somebody beats you. It is about constant judgment. Like the presidency. Make it as big as you can without breaking the skin."

I don't know what that means exactly, but I'm pretty sure if I had been there and Bill Clinton had said it to me, I'd have immediately written it down like it was a brilliant Yoda-esque koan.

Posted by Jonathan Stein on 09/05/07 at 8:08 AM | Comments (1) | Email | Print

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