Opinion: Bill Clinton and the spotlight simply go together
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We think we’ve seen this dynamic before -- and likely will again.
As a prelude to the debate among the Democratic presidential candidates in South Carolina tonight (on CNN, starting at 5 p.m. PST), the center of attention within the party is the fellow who’s already served two terms in the White House (and hopes to return as First Laddy) -- Bill Clinton.
Barack Obama put the ex-president squarely in his sights in an interview that aired today on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America.’ Obama didn’t mince words, charging that Clinton has been making ‘false statements’ about him and vowing to confront him more directly about that.
Meanwhile, the story generating the most attention in political circles is a Newsweek piece reporting that no less of a party icon than Ted Kennedy -- as well as others -- have privately suggested to Clinton that he be a bit more diplomatic in pushing his wife’s cause over Obama’s in the Democratic race. (The story’s headline: ‘Leading Democrats to Bill Clinton: Pipe down.’)
Clinton also was the target of a public barb today.
At the annual ceremony in Atlanta ...
honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the church he preached at, Shirley Franklin -- the city’s mayor and an Obama backer -- was undeterred by the ex-president’s presence just a few feet from her as she spoke at the event. Referring to Obama’s candidacy, she said the U.S. was on the ‘cusp of turning the impossible into reality. Yes, this is reality, not fantasy or fairy tales.’
As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted, her comment was a none-too-subtle jab at Clinton’s controversial contention, as the hotly contested New Hampshire primary drew to a close two weeks ago, that coverage of Obama’s record of opposition to the Iraq war has been a ‘fairy tale.’
We doubt that Clinton -- when he sees an opening -- will refrain from jabbing back at Obama; playing political hardball is in his blood. And we doubt that as long as his wife remains on the inside track to the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton’s campaign will make much of an effort to rein him in.
It will be interesting to see, however, if Obama’s campaign makes a concerted effort to press the argument made by one of his top advisors in the Newsweek article. Gene Craig, a lawyer who was one of the ex-president’s key defenders during the impeachment saga, contended that ‘recent events raise the question: If Hillary’s campaign can’t control Bill, whether Hillary’s White House could.’
-- Don Frederick