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Barack Obama and Bill Clinton campaigned together last night in Kissimmee, Florida, with some 35,000 regular people in attendance, along with an all-star roster of journos (Jake Tapper! Margaret Carlson! Adam Nagourney — with his boss Bill Keller in tow!!!) shivering in the cold but pleased as hell to be there.

Clinton’s thirteen-minute speech was energetic, emphatic, amped up to the point of being slightly hyperactive. He flapped his arms, clenched his fists, jabbed his finger in the air. “Folks, we can’t fool with this,” he said. “Our country is hanging in the balance. This man should be our president!” When Clinton finished, the two men clasped hands and embraced, then Obama sung a song to Clinton — praising his economic record, lauding him for having “reconfigure(d) the Democratic Party,” calling him a “statesman,” a “political genius,” and a “beloved” figure “around the world.” “In case all of you forgot, this is what it’s like to have such a great president,” Obama said.

Yet the sloppy, two-way tongue bath made the whole thing seem a little forced. Clinton, naturally, was laboring mightily to ensure that not a single word or gesture would get him dinged (as he has been repeatedly in the past few months, and with good reason) for being anything less than 100 percent behind Obama. But beyond the histrionics, the substance of his speech was formulaic, a gussied-up set of cookie-cutter talking points. The four reasons he cited for supporting Obama — his philosophy, his policies, his decision-making ability, and his capacity as a chief executive — could have been applied to any nominee of his party; there wasn’t a single warm personal anecdote or characterological insight (both specialties of Clinton’s when he’s speaking about someone he actually, you know, likes). As Clinton orated, Obama looked on with an expression that conveyed no greater satisfaction, let alone thrill, than if he were being endorsed by the mayor of Orlando. He grinned occasionally, but the million-megawatt smile that he unleashes when he’s truly psyched was nowhere to be seen.

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