Stay out of the race.
It seems that Bill Clinton is getting it from all sides. Bill the Clinton has been all over the country stumping for Hillary and setting the record straight. To the point where Barack Obama retorted at the CNN Congressional Black Caucus Institute debate on Monday evening (1.21.08), "Sometimes I don't know who I'm running against."
Senator Obama's query is certainly justified. Rarely does a former president take sides in the primary election, usually letting the events before the party's convention play themselves out. Today's Chicago Tribune's editorial (1.22.08), "President Heckler," makes the case that Bill should keep his mouth shut, indicating that the former President always did have a problem with restraint.
Can you blame, Bill? Before Hillary teared up in New Hampshire and "found" her voice, she needed help--a great deal of it. Out came the big guns. Enter Bill Clinton, stage right, in full Lady MacBeth regalia.
However, now that Hillary has regained her frontrunner status, do we need to hear Bill being oh so un-presidential and slinging the mud.
The Clinton's have been known for their fierce loyalty to each other, even in the face of infidelity and other acrimony. It's all about the power. Just win baby.
The Clinton's have also been known for their equally vociferous destruction of the opposition. For them, politics is a blood sport (think 2007 New England Patriots and Mike Tyson chomping Evander Holyfield's ear).
When Barack Obama talks about wanting a change in business as usual in Washington, DC, he is speaking directly to and about the Clintons.
So, where does this leave us, the voters? Well, we watch and we wait, looking for one of them--Bill or Hillary--to slip up on the slippery rocks of presidential politics, waiting for the O'Reilly's of the world to pounce. That's what David Axelrod, Obama's chief political strategist, is banking on.
As a result, Bill and Hillary Clinton have to play Barack's game. It's the audacity of hope, baby.
The Clintons have been baited into giving up their "win at all cost" and "destroy your opponent" game because, in the end, they will need Barack's support and supporters to have a snowball's chance in hell of beating the Republicans in November. If Barack doesn't win the Democratic nomination outright, he won't be anybody's number two. His ego is way too big to allow that. So, he'll be a power-broker of a different sort.
So, again, where does that leave us?
Unfortunately, as one reader of this blog observed, the Democrats are squandering their best chance of winning the most winnable election they have had in more than a generation.
Thanks, Bill.
