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Comparing Bill Clinton's Actual, Off The Cuff Speech With His Prepared Remarks

September 6, 2012 RSS Feed Print
Former President Bill Clinton addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 5, 2012.

Former President Bill Clinton addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 5, 2012.

Bill Clinton went 20 minutes over the allotted time when he delivered his speech in support of President Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night.

He also went off-script dozens of times, supplementing lines from the prepared remarks to better needle Republicans with a line of his own. Of GOP VP pick Paul Ryan and his attack on President Obama's Medicare savings, Clinton adlibbed: "It takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did."

As part of a plea for cooperation between the parties, Clinton added in: "Democracy does not have to be a blood sport." And at times, the former president was self-indulgent. Responding to giddy applause of the audience, Clinton said in one of many asides: "Now you're having a good time but this is getting serious and I want you to listen."

Below, see the comparison between Bill Clinton's prepared, TelePrompTer remarks, and the speech he actually delivered Wednesday night. There's quite a bit of red there.

Document Compare - Bill Clinton

Elizabeth Flock is a staff writer for U.S. News & World Report. You can contact her at eflock@usnews.com or follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Tags:
Democratic National Convention,
Bill Clinton

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