Bill Clinton’s new role: the traditional political spouse

THE small mining hamlet of Rock Springs, Wyoming, might not be the first place one would expect to find the former leader of the free world.

But here was Bill Clinton in south-west Wyoming, ahead of today’s Democratic caucuses, telling about 1,000 people how his wife, Hillary, would establish 10 clean-coal technology projects if elected president in November.

“Some environmentalists don’t think we ought to be doing anything with coal,” he said. “But think about it, you could become, maybe, the first totally energy-independent state in the United States.”

Months into the Democratic nominating contest, Bill Clinton still stumps vigorously for his wife across the country, still finding the right role for himself in an unprecedented and high-profile experiment in how best to help her.

Her advisers credit him with boosting her support among rural voters, especially men. He also phones through a list of party “superdelegates” almost daily, urging them to back the former first lady. And he has raised considerable cash for her campaign.

What he doesn’t do — anymore — is criticise Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton’s rival for the Democratic presidential nomination. And he has not appeared onstage with his wife since Super Tuesday, February 5.

The reason: after months of trial and error, campaign aides believe they have finally found a role for the former president that plays to strengths without needlessly reminding voters of the theatrics of his White House years.

The answer: play the traditional political spouse.

“He was the first to acknowledge after South Carolina that he’d failed to anticipate how he’d be held to a different standard than other spouses,” said Mike McCurry, who was Mr Clinton’s White House spokesman.

But Ari Fleischer, a former spokesman for President George W Bush, said Bill Clinton had badly overshadowed his wife just when she needed to establish her own identity and credentials as a candidate.

“If she loses, his role will be looked back upon as one of the unique surprises of the campaign,” he said.