Bill Clinton Denies His Planned 36-Hour Speech Will Derail Obama

Former President Bill Clinton today denied that his planned 36-hour speech, to be covered live by all TV networks, was intended to draw attention away from Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech Thursday night at Invesco Field in Denver.

"As a former President," Clinton said, "I understand that people are looking to me to provide a context for an Obama administration. National political conventions are all about educating the American people. And I have a lot to tell them."

Clinton intends to speak for eight hours on each of four topics: international relations and the war in Iraq; the economy; health care; and his boyhood in Hope, Arkansas.

"I think that the folks from the Guinness Book of World Records may be watching," the former President chuckled before a hastily assembled Denver news conference. "This may be longer than any speech of Fidel Castro or even Joe Biden."

Clinton denied that the purpose of his speech was to distract the nation from Sen. Obama's speech, claiming that "the people want to know the facts about so many things, and as the former leader of the Free World, I know so many things. Frankly, 36 hours barely scratches the surface. Ever read my autobiography?"

Clinton said that by the time he is finished, he will be "exhausted, depleted, and in dire need of a shower. But my discomfort is a small price to pay when it comes to educating the American people."

If President Clinton does speak for 36 straight hours, as he intends, it will push Sen. Obama's nomination acceptance speech to roughly 4 a.m. Denver time.

"Lots of people will watch Barack at 4 a.m.," Clinton told reporters. "Maybe not the audience of 75,000 at the football stadium, or the tens of millions of viewers watching at home. But hey, it's his first time being nominated for national office, and he's got to earn his audience.

"By the way, did you see Hillary last night? It took her twenty minutes to get around to mentioning me, and I was barely visible in that whole video thing. So tonight it's my turn, and you won't be hearing much about her. I don't even know if she's still in Denver--I think she caught a flight out with some of her delegates. But I'm good to go."