Clinton Campaign Pre-Mortem --- How Much Blame to Lay at Bill Clinton's Fee?

Forget her -- how will he come out of all of this looking?

According to a new article by my colleague Liz Halloran at U.S. News & World Report, ven former aides who have been turned off by Bill Clinton's behavior in the Democratic primary race believe that his legacy will come through intact because, well, he's Bill Clinton. He'll bounce back because he always does.

This view (probably correct) brings to mind the questions people have repeatedly asked about the former president over the last few months -- How could such a talented pol have stumbled so badly?

The answer is that that's Bill Clinton. Yes -- he's a comeback kid political wunderkind... but his comebacks have mostly been from political near-death experiences of his own creation. Yes he comes back, but he often staked the other side to the lead.

Of course this observation notes that the stumble was predictable but doesn't explain why.

Halloran writes:

Was Clinton angered that Obama as early as last fall had begun criticizing the Clinton White House years as divisive? Or that the new charismatic campaigner was stealing the former president's rock star status? Or were his missteps a function of his deep desire to get his wife's faltering campaign on track--and disbelief that it wasn't going better?

Most former aides interviewed suggest it was all of the above. Clinton can take criticism from the right, but it infuriates him when it comes from his own party, advisers say. Another aide who remains loyal to the Clintons says that it will take more than a nomination for Obama to surpass the former president's stature in the party. "Getting the nomination is one thing," he says. "Governing mostly successfully for eight years is another thing."

That last quote is comedy -- and sets one to imagine four to eight years of legacy comparison: My legacy is still bigger than yours.

Anyway, check out the whole story, it's a good read.