Reeling In Bill

Reeling In Bill? Someone needs to. Bill's rhetoric has been downright annoying since Iowa. On the other hand, I think the Clinton "war machine", as I've heard it referred to many times over the weekend, has perhaps inadvertently proven that Senator O'Bama is "tough enough" to make it in Washington after dealing with President Clinton the last couple of weeks.

Clinton's Camp Seeks Gentler Role for Ex-President

Following are some points that apparently the Clinton camp has absorbed. Read full article by Patrick Healy here.

“I think his harsh style hurt Senator Clinton — it polarized the campaign and polarized the electorate, and it also made it harder for Senator Clinton’s positive message to break through,” said Celinda Lake, a Democratic strategist and pollster who is not affiliated with any of the candidates.

“Voters don’t like the idea of a co-presidency, and he became so high profile that he made people begin to see this as a possible co-presidency,” Ms. Fowler said. “It’s even more problematic because she’s a woman. It looks like she either needs him to fight the big battles for her, or she can’t keep the big dog on the porch.”

Mr. Clinton’s ability to be a distraction was evident on Sunday as reporters repeatedly asked Mrs. Clinton about her husband’s role in the campaign and his comments about Mr. Jackson, which she characterized as benign.

Clinton advisers said that Mr. Clinton would continue to campaign nearly full time for his wife in the days leading up to the Feb. 5 primaries and caucuses in 22 states, yet they added that he would take a more positive tone.