Way back on December 17 – which seems like an eternity in this strangest of presidential campaign seasons -- I wrote that:"Bill Clinton is one of Mrs. Clinton’s greatest strengths – and weaknesses. He was absolutely the most adept politician that I saw on the stump in the eight presidential campaigns that I covered. Had Al Gore not kept him at arm's length in 2000, he probably would be finishing his second term. That noted, it is surprising that as the Mister stumps for the Missus he seems to be talking more about himself than her. And you can be sure that he won't alienate his black base by going hard after Obama."Given events since then, I take no credit at being prescient.
It was obvious that the Mister had the potential to be a drag on the Missus, but I don't think anyone could have anticipated what a negative he has turned out to be in repeatedly becoming the story line of the day from the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign because of intemperate remarks that don't bring welcome attention to the candidate but distract and detract from her. And boy was I wrong about him not going hard after Barack Obama.
Joe Gandelman has put together a terrific piece on whether Bill is a drag on Hill over at The Moderate Voice, but I'd like to take it to another level, as Emeril likes to say:
If Mrs. Clinton is elected, would her husband be a drag on her administration? Would he quietly retire to the Executive Residence and play with his HO trains or would he have to be shackled by the Secret Service?
Photograph by Agence France-Presse
2 comments:
He's apparently very good at crossword puzzles too.
In 1992 the mantra of the Clinton was vote for one, get two. Nothing has changed. The clintons are political tag teams. Mrs.Clinton has no resume without her husband's resume. Mrs. Clinton campaign has always been about getting B.J. a third term. B.J. Clinton can not be views a something apart from the Clinton campaign. He is the very reason for the campaign.
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