The Bill Clinton who met privately with California's superdelegates at last
weekend's state convention was a far cry from the congenial former
president
who afterward publicly urged fellow Democrats to "chill out" over the race
between his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama.
In fact, before his speech Clinton had one of his famous meltdowns Sunday,
blasting away at former presidential contender Bill Richardson for having
endorsed Obama, the media and the entire nomination process.
"It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended," one
superdelegate said.
According to those at the meeting, Clinton - who flew in from Chicago with
bags under his eyes - was classic old Bill at first, charming and making
small talk with the 15 or so delegates who gathered in a room behind the
convention stage.
But as the group moved together for the perfunctory photo, Rachel Binah, a
former Richardson delegate who now sup****ts Hillary Clinton, told Bill how
"sorry" she was to have heard former Clinton campaign manager James
Carville
call Richardson a "Judas" for backing Obama.
It was as if someone pulled the pin from a grenade.
"Five times to my face (Richardson) said that he would never do that," a
red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted.
The former president then went on a tirade that ran from the media's
unfair
treatment of Hillary to questions about the fairness of the votes in state
caucuses that voted for Obama. It ended with him asking delegates to
imagine
what the reaction would be if Obama was trailing by just 1 percent and
people were telling him to drop out.
"It was very, very intense," said one attendee. "Not at all like the Bill
of
earlier campaigns."
When he finally wound down, Bill was asked what message he wanted the
delegates to take away from the meeting.
At that point, a much calmer Clinton outlined his message of party unity.
"It was kind of strange later when he took the stage and told everyone to
'chill out,' " one delegate told us.
"We couldn't help but think he was also talking to himself."
When delegate Binah - still stunned from her encounter with Clinton - got
home to Little River (Mendocino County) later in the day - there was a
phone
message waiting for her from State Party Chairman Art Torres, telling her
the former president wanted him to apologize to her on his behalf for what
happened.
Still, word of Clinton's blast shot all the way back to the New Mexico
state
Capitol, where Richardson spokesman Pahl ****pley reiterated Tuesday that
his
boss had never "promised or guaranteed" Bill and Hillary his endorsement.
All points bulletin: Even before the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to
condemn China's human rights record, San Francisco police were bracing for
massive protests - and huge overtime - with next week's arrival of the
Olympic torch.
Two months ago, police brass issued a department-wide bulletin that
canceled
days off on April 9 for all 2,245 members of the force to ensure a major
law
enforcement presence along the torch route.
On any given day, as many as 600 patrol officers are off duty - and
pulling
them back on assignment could translate to upward of $360,000 in police
overtime.
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said he's been told the
department's full overtime costs on torch day could top $400,000.
It's the kind of OT that helps explain why 393 police officers - 20
percent
of the force - earned more than $150,000 in 2007.
Police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens said the OT cost for the upcoming
torch run "was not that clear cut" because the department could decide to
bring officers in early for ****fts or keep them a little later. He
declined
to provide any actual cost estimate, however, citing security concerns.
And it won't just be San Francisco police picking up overtime when the
torch
comes through. The California Highway Patrol and federal agencies,
including
the FBI, are also being called in to assist with crowd control, Gittens
said.
"You can't encourage every event - every demonstration, every All Star
event - to come to San Francisco and then not understand that there is a
price to pay for this in the form of police overtime to provide public
safety," said police union boss Gary Delagnes. "But these politicians want
it both ways. They want the events, but then they complain about overtime
being exorbitant."
Delagnes' remarks brought a quick retort from pro-Tibet resolution sponsor
Supervisor Chris Daly, who shot back on his personal blog. Daly said that
despite the board's approval this year of a $407 million police budget,
the
department "has already blown $7.5 million past their entire overtime
budget
.... (and) meanwhile, our city homicide rate is through the roof.
"We've encouraged no protest that has contributed to the outrageous police
overtime incurred so far," Daly said. "Second, it is our understanding
that
Police Department brass has been meeting with the Newsom administration
and
Chinese officials for months, discussing every detail of the proposed
torch
route."
In other words, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said, the cops knew well in
advance that this day was coming and had plenty of time to budget
accordingly.
Bottom line, no matter where you stand on the torch run, the pot is
getting
stirred for another big political show - and a big police overtime bill to
boot.
In the pocket: The hottest ticket in San Francisco this weekend may well
be
the $2,300-a-head reception for Democratic hopeful Barack Obama at the
Pacific Heights mansion of billionaire couple Ann and Gordon Getty.
We're told more than 400 guests are expected, but not Mayor Gavin Newsom,
who - despite his close business and family ties to the Gettys - remains a
big-time Hillary Clinton backer.
By the way, the gathering is being co-hosted by another Newsom business
partner, Joe Cotchett, former state Controller Steve Westly (a possible
Newsom rival for governor in 2010) and District Attorney Kamala Harris
(who
has been on the Obama bandwagon from the start.)
--
"I sup****t George Bush's war in Iraq" -- Bill Clinton, 2003
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