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Opinion: Bill Clinton saw it coming

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An interesting example of Bill Clinton’s surviving political instincts cropped up over the holiday.

He spent the last three days campaigning in Iowa with his wife, Hillary. Some critics suggested his appearance by her side would raise issues of a Clinton dynasty through, in effect, a third family presidency. But the 41st president saw the criticism coming from a different angle.

As noted in a Top of the Ticket item on Tuesday, standing with his wife on the University of Iowa campus, he said, ‘I know, some people say, ‘Look at them. They’re old. They’re sort of yesterday’s news.’ ‘’

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‘Well,’ the former president added slyly, noting some of his administrations’ accomplishments including a strong economy, ‘yesterday’s news was pretty good.’

Sure enough, the very next day in the very same state Senator Barack Obama, who has built a strong campaign on his fresh appeal and Democrat-leading fundraising, claimed American voters are tired of ‘the same old thing.’

‘I admire Bill Clinton,’ Obama said in an interview with Associated Press, ‘I think he did a lot of fine things as president and he’s a terrific political strategist. What we’re more interested in is in looking forward, not looking backward. I think the American people feel the same way. They are looking for a way to break out of the harsh partisanship and the old arguments and solve problems.’

Clinton also showed his political savvy in waiting a while before hitting the trail with his wife, which he’ll do again later this month in New Hampshire. In a conversation with The Times’ Peter Nicholas, reported here earlier this morning, Clinton said he purposely waited several months before campaigning jointly to give the New York senator time to establish her own identity in the public mind.

He said he wasn’t so worried about ‘overshadowing’ her as ‘blocking’ her.

Based on his anticipation of the Obama move, she might do well to listen closely to him.

--Andrew Malcolm

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