ORLANDO, FLA. — Jeffrey Platt wasn't sure what he was going to hear when he took the afternoon off from his struggling architectural firm to see Bill Clinton make his first campaign stop for Barack Obama.
Since vowing at the Democrats' national convention to do all he could to elect the Illinois senator, the former president has been a study in mixed signals and bridled enthusiasm -- like the hostage who hails his captors while blinking in code: "Not really."
But under a blazing sun at the University of Central Florida on Wednesday, Platt, 52, said he heard what he was hoping for, a full-throated Clinton endorsement of Obama.
"Here's why you ought to be for Barack Obama," Clinton said with a passion some felt had gone missing. "He's got better answers -- better answers for the economy, for energy, for healthcare, for education. He knows what it will take to get this country back on track."
Platt left satisfied. "He finally got aggressive," he said after Clinton's speech in this battleground state where the race for 27 electoral votes is tight. "He made it apparent the country is in trouble and Barack Obama is the help we need."
It was warmer than the tepid backing Clinton has expressed in recent days while making the rounds on late night and Sunday news shows promoting his philanthropic summit. Words of praise for Republican John McCain fairly rolled off his tongue -- "a great man" who "stood up to his party." But when it came to Obama's attributes, "much closer to what Hillary and I want" was about as good as it got.
Such low energy, coming from one of the most gifted campaigners of modern politics, was so apparent that "Saturday Night Live" spoofed it last week with Darrell Hammond as Clinton: "Look . . . I'm not gonna trash John McCain just 'cause he's a Republican or a war hero or a great friend who's hilarious and cool."
Clinton's recent appearance on "Late Show With David Letterman," where he seemed to talk more about his wife's dead candidacy than Obama's live one, prompted a fit from the next guest, comedian Chris Rock: "Is it me, or he [Clinton] didn't want to say the name 'Barack Obama'? Hillary ain't running."
On Wednesday, though, Clinton seemed to walk a line between gutter politics and the above-the-fray wisdom expected of a former president -- a posture he forsook in the fierce primary battle, only to see his poll numbers drop.
