If there was anything that Hillary wanted to do in her run for the presidency, it was to distance herself from her past and especially some of the "negatives" that were associated with Bubba. And yet, the way Bubba has conducted himself with his finger-waving "shame on you" condescending attitude, memories of the past have resurfaced with great harm and embarrassment to both.
The press is even now reminding us of Hillary Clinton"s cattle-futures deal, Travelgate, Whitewater, Filegate, the Lincoln Bedroom Fire Sale, Pardongate - and the inevitable replay of the Monica Lewinsky ordeal. And then we are also being reminded of how both Clinton"s blame the right-wing conspirators for all the worlds problems and attacks on them.
Sen. Clinton"s oft-contradictory policy stands are another issue. She voted for the war in Iraq, but now says it was a bad idea. She"d end it yesterday - but refuses to say how. It"s called "triangulation" - the Clintonian tactic by which the ends are played against the middle. Once, it was effective - almost brilliant. Today, it is tired and tattered - and it reeks of cynicism and opportunism.
How much damage has Bubba done?
Whether he has done much harm remains to be be seen come Super Tuesday. At the very least, however, the former president has begun to change the polarity of his own presence in her campaign from positive to negative -- and to raise real questions about the meaning of his return to the White House.
Would we be electing a co-presidency in voting for Hillary? What would their psyche dynamic look like?
It is probably safe to say that when the Democratic primaries began, most Americans looked back on the Clinton administration with the nostalgia that the people of the Middle Ages probably felt about the years before the arrival of the plague. Regardless of Mr. Clinton"s flaws, the people perceived him as a competent, intelligent and compassionate president. So much for that memory.
The first black president is looking more white!
When Barack Obama challenged Hillary with his victory in Iowa and that close call in New Hampshire, Mr. Clinton lost his cool. The man who has been praised even by his enemies as the most talented politician of his generation committed mistake after mistake. Perhaps more importantly, he stooped from the dignity of his position, as ex-president and world statesman, to attack her rival. In his zeal to protect and advance his wife, he injured himself and her.
Did he not see that stepping on a young, idealistic junior senator, who happens to be African-American, would look like a bully picking on a smaller kid? The high road would have been far more beneficial.
We"ll know alot more in five days, but there are some things we can say now. Bubba has shot himself in the foot and how badly that will hinder his race to being back in the White House, even as a "first spouse" we"ll soon know.