The Clinton effect

TERRY MCAULIFFE (pictured, next to the chap with the blow-dried hair) once called himself a “salesman”. Bill Clinton’s presidency was his “product”. He did more than anyone else to create Mr Clinton’s vast fundraising machine. He helped hatch a scheme to reward big donors with a night in the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House or lunch with the president. Illegal contributions from Asia flowed into campaign coffers under his watch, though he denies involvement and the money was later returned. To his detractors, Mr McAuliffe represents all that was grubby about the Bubba administration.

But young voters in Virginia, where he is running for governor, don’t remember much of that. The youngest were not even born when Mr Clinton became president. To them, the Clinton years sound like a golden age of jobs and growth. A survey from the Pew Research Centre found that millennials thought Mr Clinton the best president in their lifetime. (Granted, if you are 18, there have only been three.)

All of this boosts Mr McAuliffe. In polls of 18 to 29 year-olds, he is 20 points ahead of Ken Cuccinelli, his Republican rival. Youngsters like Mr McAuliffe’s pitch about jobs and education. They hear Mr Cuccinelli, the state attorney-general, decry abortion and fret that gayness imperils the soul—and they wince.

In Richmond on October 27th, young voters queued for hours to see Mr Clinton speak at a rally on Mr McAuliffe’s behalf. Some sported “SuperBill” buttons (on which the former president’s head is grafted onto Superman’s body). Many said they admired Mr Clinton for leaving office with a budget surplus. Some lauded his charitable foundation. Few mentioned his scandals. Even young Republicans have a soft spot for him. Elizabeth Minneman, of the University of Virginia’s College Republicans, a student political club, says her peers view Mr Clinton more favourably than Barack Obama—he was less partisan in office, they say.

Back in 1996, 18- to 29-year-olds in Virginia preferred the Republican Bob Dole to Mr Clinton. In 2008 and 2012 most young Virginians picked Mr Obama, but in 2009 they preferred Bob McDonnell, now Virginia’s Republican governor, to his Democratic opponent. (Though only 17% bothered to vote.) Mr Clinton might woo a few more to the polls this time. And if he does, that will help Mr McAuliffe win.