Posted on Mon, Apr. 25, 2005

Clinton, Bush forge unlikely friendship

Bill Clinton and George Bush have built a friendly bond that has taken even the former presidents' closest friends and relatives by surprise.

New York Daily News


WASHINGTON - Family and friends who say the improbable love fest between George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton is totally genuine still can't refrain from occasionally rolling their eyes.

Barbara Bush, the 41st president's tart-tongued wife, calls them the Odd Couple. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush now refers to the Democrat who ended his father's political career as ``Bro.''

And President George W. Bush, who created this tag-team mismatch by naming his immediate predecessors joint envoys for U.S. tsunami relief efforts, brought down the house at Washington's A-list Gridiron Club dinner last month by mentioning Clinton's recent surgery.

''When he woke up he was surrounded by his loved ones: Hillary, Chelsea and my dad,'' Bush deadpanned.

The emerging warm friendship between the Oscar and Felix of American politics, who now call themselves Bill and George and have even begun telephoning one another for advice, is that rarest of commodities: a good-news story amid the partisan rancor of an increasingly polarized capital city.

''I'm enjoying the relationship, and to be honest with you I didn't think I would,'' Bush said recently.

Once bitter political foes with minimal regard for each other, the 80-year-old Bush and 58-year-old Clinton have forged surprisingly close ties, a who-would-have-thought development helped along by a parallel thaw between Clinton and the current President Bush.

''This is definitely for real,'' a top aide to one of the exes said. ``We thought the relationship would come to an end with the tsunami. It certainly didn't.''

ACCOMMODATING

That's an understatement. Clinton has rearranged a busy West Coast schedule to appear with the elder Bush in Houston next month, and more joint events are in the works. The two talk regularly, and their staffs are in almost daily contact. They've golfed together, sat side by side at the Super Bowl, and cut TV spots appealing for tsunami contributions.

The News also has learned that Clinton will speak at the Bush library at Texas A&M University this fall. A reciprocal visit to the Clinton library will surely follow, and last week Clinton said he's looking forward to golfing with Bush in Maine this summer.

Aides and friends to both admit being confounded by the relationship. Except for graduating from Yale and sharing a secret fondness for ribald humor, there is little in their DNA to suggest such chumminess.

A former Clinton assistant thinks their membership in the country's most exclusive all-male club is at the core of the thaw. ''This is a fraternity even more exclusive than Skull and Bones,'' the aide noted, referring to the mysterious Yale society that counts both Presidents Bush among its members.

It's a sign of their mutual affection that the elder Bush has resorted to what he usually derides as ''psychobabble'' to try to explain the relationship.

FATHER FIGURE?

''Maybe I'm the father he never had,'' Bush recently speculated, referring to the fact that Clinton's father died in an automobile accident before the future president was born.

Advisors to both men scoff at cynics who allege the relationship is politically motivated, yet concede that the former leaders -- as well as President Bush and Hillary Clinton -- benefit from their détente.

''They're trying to move Hillary to the center for 2008, and this helps de-demonize her and her husband,'' a longtime Bush confidant said.

Similarly, a veteran of the Clinton White House argued that reaching out to Clinton helps the current President Bush by softening the perception his policies have divided the country.

''It gives Clinton back some legitimacy,'' the source said, ``but Bush knows Clinton is still popular and has a lot of international goodwill that can be helpful to Bush. It's good all-around PR.''

Several sources say this mutual-inoculation society began building below the political radar last June, when the younger Bush -- who ended every 2000 campaign speech by vowing to restore dignity to a scandal-tarnished Oval Office -- made extremely gracious remarks when Clinton's portrait was unveiled at the White House.

By all accounts, the friendship blossomed on their whirlwind March visit to Asian nations hammered by the tsunami. Clinton insisted the octogenarian Bush take the stateroom, with its full-sized bed, on their 757 government jet.

Touched by Clinton's deference, Bush stretched out while Clinton slept on the floor -- on a comfy Tempur-Pedic mattress Bush brought along for his younger predecessor.

''President Bush's energy and stamina really impressed me during our travels together,'' Clinton reminisced. ``Thanks to my own health problems, I was the tired one after a long day of work. Now that I've had my surgery, maybe I stand a better chance of being able to keep up with him.''

Since the Asian trip, the two former leaders of the free world have often seemed joined at the hip.

''Here we are in one of the ugliest times in American politics, and something good like this happens,'' a former senior government official said. ``It sends an awfully positive signal.''

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Enough about me, how are you doing?

You know the saying.......keep your friends close.........but your enemies closer.......

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

lol. one night in bed with clinton and bone would be in love too...

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72 W114/M130

RedMeat cartoon

Well Bill preffers a cigar than a quiff on his lips...that info came out of monicagate......and I got a cigar here........

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Mediocre minds think alike.

"Gee Brain, What are we gonna do tonight? Zort!"

"The same thing we do every night Pinky. Try to take over the world!"

Paul X.

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Pxland

2001 Honda Accord

1995 Jeep Cherokee

1973 MB 280SEL 4.5