Hillary and Bill Clinton: Campaign Speech Twinsies

All campaign speeches have overlap. Blah, blah, middle class… Wah-wah education… Rah-rah, opportunity for all. But comparing then Governor Clinton’s kick-off campaign speech on October 3, 1991, with former Senator Hillary Clinton’s kick-off campaign speech on June 13, 2015, reveals some interesting overlaps and omissions.

ROOSEVELT MENTIONED

Bill: Teddy

Hillary: Franklin

STRUGGLES THEIR MOTHERS ENDURED

Bill: “My mother had been widowed three months before I was born. I was raised for four years by my grandparents, while she went back to nursing school.”

Hillary: “[My mother’s] own parents abandoned her, and by 14 she was out on her own, working as a housemaid.”

24 YEARS AND DOCTORS STILL HAVEN’T FOUND A CURE FOR DC’S PARALYSIS

Bill: “… all we have out of Washington is status quo paralysis. No vision, no action. Just neglect, selfishness, and division.”

Hillary: “Our political system is so paralyzed by gridlock and dysfunction that most Americans have lost confidence that anything can actually get done.”

WHAT DO WE WANT? EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT. WHEN DO WE WANT IT? ONE OF THESE DAYS WOULD BE NICE…

Bill: “I want to reinvent government to make it more efficient and more effective.”

Hillary: “Government is never going to have all the answers — but it has to be smarter, simpler, more efficient…”

STILL WAITING ON THAT CLEANER, SAFER PLANET…

Bill: “…We must protect our environment and develop an energy policy that relies more on conservation and clean natural gas so all our children will inherit a world that is cleaner, safer, and more beautiful.”

Hillary: “And we will make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. Developing renewable power — wind, solar, advanced biofuels. Building cleaner power plants, smarter electric grids, greener buildings…”

AH, YES, THE ‘PROMISE OF AMERICA’

Bill: “The small towns and main streets of America aren’t like the corridors and backrooms of Washington. People out here don’t care about the idle rhetoric of ‘left’ and ‘right’ and ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’… These families are crying out desperately for someone who believes the promise of America is to help them with their struggle to get ahead…”

Hillary: “There are allies for change everywhere who know we can’t stand by while inequality increases, wages stagnate, and the promise of America dims.”

THINGS BILL MENTIONED THAT HILLARY DID NOT

Communism, Cold War, the American Dream, Welfare, New Millennium, Hope

THINGS HILLARY MENTIONED THAT BILL DID NOT

LGBT Community, Biofuels, Technology, Hedge Fund Managers, Silicon Valley, Coloring hair

THINGS NEITHER OF THEM MENTIONED

Yale

BEST QUOTE/PROPHECY

Bill: “I’m not out to soak the rich. I wouldn’t mind being rich.”

Hillary: “Well, I may not be the youngest candidate in this race. But I will be the youngest woman President in the history of the United States.”