EDITORIAL – The good, the bad and the Bill

With the South Carolina primary only days away, it’s crunch time for Democratic presidential… With the South Carolina primary only days away, it’s crunch time for Democratic presidential frontrunners Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. So Hillary has decided to do what any other presidential candidate would do: play to her strengths. It’s just that, in her case, the strength isn’t as much a character trait as it is a 61-year-old red-faced man with a Southern drawl (who also happened to hold the coveted presidential office just eight short years ago).

In the weeks since Hillary made her comeback in the New Hampshire primary, she’s had the added advantage of a running mate, sending husband Bill to campaign, virtually solo, in South Carolina while she focuses her campaign on states further along in the nomination process.

Speaking at diners, churches and gymnasiums, it’s 1992 all over again for Bill, whose familiarity with foreign and domestic policy comes across easily in front of a crowd. Bill’s liberal intellectualism mixed with down-home Southern charm has always made him an appealing candidate and enjoyable speaker – and nobody knows that better than him.

According to a Washington Post column, at a campaign stop in South Carolina, Clinton often lapsed into the first person, drawing on ’90s nostalgia by reflecting on the days when “I was president … When I was in law school … When I was Arkansas governor.”

While it’s too early to tell whether Bill’s more active role in the Clinton campaign will help to secure the Democratic nomination for his wife, his recent vocalism has presented a formidable challenge for Hillary’s chief Democratic rival Obama – who in recent weeks has spent more time defending himself against the remarks of Bill than he has against his actual opponent.

Bill’s criticisms of Obama’s “fairy tale”-like campaign couldn’t even escape the Democratic debate, where Obama admitted that he sometimes doesn’t know which Clinton he’s running against.

Bill’s relatively successful first go-around as president, coupled with a recent wave of ’90s nostalgia, gives voters a sense of security, a quality that the Clinton camp has exploited during the campaign.

Throughout her run, Hillary has frequently referenced her experience, noting that her role during her husband’s presidency was that of a political partner, aide and sounding board – a claim that would imply that her husband would hold the same role in her own presidency if she makes it to the oval office.

Political analysts have warned from the beginning that Bill’s experience and easy personality were both Hillary’s greatest assets and greatest liabilities. During speeches, Bill’s personality and charm offset what is sometimes seen as Hillary’s cold abrasiveness.

Yet these qualities often cause him to overshadow his wife, and there’s no worse time to do that than during these pivotal months of her presidential campaign.

If Hillary is going to win the presidency, she needs to do it on her own terms. And there’s currently no greater obstacle toward that goal than her own husband.