[260][261] When Clinton played the saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show, he was described by some religious conservatives as "the MTV president".[262] Opponents sometimes referred to him as "Slick Willie", a nickname which was first applied to him in 1980 by Pine Bluff Commercial journalist Paul Greenberg;[263] Greenberg believed that Clinton was abandoning the progressive policies of previous Arkansas Governors such as Winthrop Rockefeller, Dale Bumpers and David Pryor.[263] The claim "Slick Willie" would last throughout his presidency.[264] His folksy manner led him to be nicknamed Bubba, especially in the South.[265] Since 2000, he has frequently been referred to as "The Big Dog" or "Big Dog".[266][267] His prominent role in campaigning for President Obama during the 2012 presidential election and his widely publicized speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, where he officially nominated Obama and criticized Republican nominee Mitt Romney and Republican policies in detail, earned him the nickname "Explainer-in-Chief".[268][269]
Clinton drew strong support from the African American community and insisted that the improvement of race relations would be a major theme of his presidency.