Obama Pans Bill Clinton's Economic Legacy.

An interesting tactic. Bubba should not get too much credit, and he is a good target.

ABC [reported] that Obama "blamed much of the current economic crisis, on a lack of regulations of financial institutions, which he said were simply eliminated under Presidents Bush and Clinton."

Indeed. And deregulation helped Wall Street feel financial brinkmanship would not be hindered; it was not, and here we are in a financial crisis.

The Financial Times reports under the headline "Obama Blames Clinton Era for Crisis," Obama said "much of the blame for America's unfolding credit crisis on the financial deregulation of the 1990s in his hardest hitting attack so far on the economic legacy of Bill Clinton's administration."

Hardball tactic. Many remember Clinton's time as good economic times, which works in Senator Clinton's favor. That link has to be broken, and attacking the Clinton legacy is the way to do it. No need to attack NAFTA; Senator Clinton's claim that she opposed it sounded hollow, and, after what is now being called Snipergate, many think of as yet another embellishment, misspeaking, or simply lie of hers.

NAFTA happens to be a realistic take on the modern world of globalization, but it is politically expedient for Democrats to oppose it.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced Sen. Barack Obama before his economic speech in Manhattan yesterday, and while he praised him, the AP reports Bloomberg "made it clear he wasn't ready to make an endorsement -- a prize all the presidential candidates are seeking." Obama "has mounted what appears to be the most aggressive effort to woo the billionaire." Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain "both have called since Bloomberg dangled the possibility of an endorsement, but neither has met with the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent mayor."

Think on that: a Jewish billionaire, Red Sox fan, Mayor of NYC, being wooed for his endorsement by a black and a woman candidate for the nomination for the Presidency of the US of A. That's change.

The New York Post reports Bloomberg "gave a boost" to Obama on Clinton's "home turf yesterday, lavishing a warm introduction on the Democratic front-runner. ... Bloomberg made clear to the crowd at Cooper Union that he has yet to get behind a 2008 candidate, but he gave Obama kudos for coming to New York to discuss the nation's faltering economy." The New York Daily News reports that it was "a friendly game of political footsie with Mayor Bloomberg." The Mayor "seemed to give Obama credit for addressing what many voters see as the nation's No. 1 problem: the economy." The New York Times reports that despite speculation that Bloomberg might make an effective running mate for Obama, "the men seemed nothing like two peas in the same political pod, destined to share a ticket."