Contrary to reports that former President Clinton may be viewed as a liability to his wife, he is not only one of two public faces in the campaign but a major policy player.
A front-page story in The Wall Street Journal this past weekend headlined "He's Back" said the former, sometimes finger-wagging president was a key reason for his wife's re-emergence from the political junkyard.
Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign insiders are not all happy -- some have called Bill's growing influence in the campaign as the "Billification" of their effort. The paper described him as the campaign's "strategist in chief" -- a role he may have assumed after the departure of the campaign's chief strategist Mark Penn.
Clinton explained his role as the spouse-candidate.
"Being the spouse is more difficult than when I was the candidate," he told the Journal. "When you're running, you're out there driving every day. But when you're the spouse, you feel more protective. It's much harder."
Bill has sent reinforcements to Hillary's campaign, moving in "his former lawyer and a bevy of strategists" into the campaign headquarters.
He reportedly has been the main force for his wife's continuance despite Sen. Barack Obama's apparent insurmountable delegate lead.
"We're not quitters," he reportedly said, telling aides, "We've got to take him on every time."
In addition to a heavy schedule of campaign appearances, Bill Clinton has even been involved in making TV commercials and "told ad makers to be more hard-hitting, faster and harsher."
"He's making the best case for his wife and converting hundreds of people at each stop," Clinton press secretary Jay Carson told the Journal. "A lot of politics is being played about the former president here. The other campaign wants to diminish the importance of our best campaigner."
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