The Clintons are always good for a laugh.
CLEAR LAKE, Iowa, July 4 -- As thousands of people cheered along the Fourth of July parade route here, it was the tall man with the familiar white hair who made the crowd go truly gaga.
“Bob Barker! It’s Bob Barker!” two women shrieked upon seeing the former president, Bill Clinton, in the distance, as he and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York marched hand-in-hand.
When the women realized who it really was, they seemed just as thrilled, shouting, “Ohhhh!” and clapping madly. A game-show-host-turned-two-term-president: how can anyone, even Mrs. Clinton, compete?
The two women react the same way to TV host Bob Barker and former president Bill Clinton.
I guess Bill's star would be the same if he spent eight years hanging out with the Price is Right girls, "Barker's Beauties," rather than dealing with all the stress of being president, getting impeached, etc.
No matter how much he tries to blend in, Mr. Clinton is one Oscar-worthy supporting actor who can sometimes upstage his leading lady simply by breathing. The Clintons’ political stagecraft — and their goal of shifting the spotlight to her — has been a work in progress since her presidential campaign began in January. This week, her husband’s first campaign jaunt on her behalf showed him in stages of adjustment — relaxed and jokey at times, a bit unpolished at others.
Good grief. This New York Times article makes Bill seem like a god!
Why do these libs hold him in such high esteem?
I know it doesn't take much to upstage Hillary. She's not the most charismatic person. Still, I think Bill's popularity is greatly exaggerated.
Behind the scenes, Mr. Clinton is assuredly hands-on in this new spousal dynamic. When the couple recently taped a “Sopranos” spoof for the campaign Web site, Mr. Clinton gently coached his wife on some of her line readings and facial expressions between takes, people involved said. And he has dispensed advice, praise and neck-and-shoulder massages in their three-day trip here, associates said.
I don't know if Bill was serving more as an acting coach or as a teacher of successful lying techniques.
But in public, his hands are figuratively in his pockets. He tries not to out-express or out-charm her. He plays good cop and, deftly, bad cop as he tries to elevate Mrs. Clinton by praising her rivals for the Democratic nomination while at the same time putting some of them down. For instance, he has described second-tier opponents like Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico in more generous terms than her immediate foes like Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.
Mr. Clinton is happily obliging with his new role, friends and advisers to the couple said, though they added that it was a far cry from his days in power. At a rally Monday in Des Moines, Mr. Clinton introduced his wife and then sat on a stool as she spoke for 25 minutes, applauding at some points and listening impassively at others while cradling his chin in his palm.
“Downright bored,” Newsweek observed in a column afterward. Paying attention, his associates said. Jet-lagged, one friend added.
I can't imagine Bill being the First Gentleman.
I've always assumed that the U.S. would have a woman as president someday, but I never thought her husband would be an ex-president. That's an entirely different dynamic.
Let's face it. Bill wants to be the star, the host, Bob Barker. He doesn't want to be Rod Roddy. That role is not for him. He'll never be content in Hillary's shadow.
As it is, Hillary hasn't managed to get out of Bill's shadow.
How will Hillary and Bill work all this out?
I don't know if they can.
A third-term for Bill? God help us.
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