'Big Slade' steps into huge void and takes command

Charles Hurt - Inside Washington

WASHINGTON -- Sometimes in life, no matter how much of a man you may think you are, you just can't get the job done.

And that's when, as fans everywhere of the cult classic "Kentucky Fried Movie" know, it is time to call in Big Jim Slade.

So it was yesterday that President Obama in his moment of public frustration and impotent despair looked around while Democrats fled from him and Republicans snickered at him.

Who at that moment should come crashing through the tacky partition wall but Big Jim Slade himself -- also known as "Bubba," "Elvis" and the former Democratic president that everybody including some Republicans seem to be pining for these days.

Big Jim Slade's character in the movie was not actually based on Bill Clinton. Clinton was just the obscure attorney general of Arkansas back in 1977 when "Kentucky Fried Movie" came out as a surprise smashing success.

But Bill Clinton could have taught Big Jim Slade a thing or two. He has the appetite of 100 men and so long as you are not easily shocked, he never disappoints.

There is no setting or situation where he will not step in and take over completely. Almost always, he does it better and with masterful attention to detail.

He always does it with more passion and gusto than anybody else has the energy to. He will outlast anyone in any feat.

In the short time it took Clinton to wrest back control of the White House yesterday from his skinny successor, he had people swooning and panting for his return.

One viewer said he was tempted to mute the TV and pretend it was 1997 and Clinton was still president and the economy was still wonderful.

As Obama looked on and fidgeted, the master schooled the pupil on being presidential.

He was open, easy, funny, confident. Never teachy, preachy, defensive or arrogant. Clinton had total command of the small details but never wandered from the high perch of the big picture.

His simple, irrefutable arguments sliced through all the noise.

"I don't believe they can get a better deal by waiting," he said of the retreating Democrats who petulantly refuse to go along with any deal that doesn't hike taxes on the wealthy.

He relished reminding the world how much they loved him during his tenure, which was marked by compromise at every level.

"It is an ethical thing to do," he said.

At one point, Obama looked at his watch as if to wonder, "How long can this guy go for?"

Then the "president" completely surrendered the stage to Big Jim Slade and left.

As one observer noted, "Instead of leaving, Obama should have stuck around to see how it's done."

churt@nypost.com