Former presidents Bush and Clinton keep them laughing at New Orleans AP
New Orleans: They came on like rock stars - arms aloft, music pounding, lights flashing, the crowd standing and going wild.
Former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, former political rivals who have forged a friendship, have their act down pat and audiences eating it up.
The pair addressed the 25,000-plus people attending the National Association of Realtors convention in New Orleans on Saturday night, drawing at least six standing ovations and almost continuous applause.
The convention is a milestone for New Orleans because it is the largest to come to the city since last year's Hurricane Katrina. The former presidents have raised $130 million (Dh477 million) in aid for hurricane recovery.
Bush, 82, told the crowd that retirement has been good, but he acknowledged missing some of the perks of the presidency, saying he even missed the large groups of demonstrators he once had to deal with.
He recalled a demonstration that was on hand for his arrival in San Francisco, describing it as big, and led by the "ugliest woman I've ever seen in my life". The woman approached his limousine with a sign and shouted "stay out of my womb".
Clinton bemoaned that his punishment for beating Bush in 1992 elections was that he was "condemned for the rest of my life to be his straight man".
"If I'd told that ugly woman womb joke, the New York papers would kill me," Clinton laughed.
