Bill Clinton Takes on Bigger Campaign Role

Bill Clinton used to be a stealth presence in his wife’s presidential campaign, raising money and schmoozing supporters largely out of the public eye.

This week, the former president stepped into the spotlight, from his humorous turn in a new web video to the announcement that he will join Hillary Rodham Clinton on high-profile campaign visits to Iowa and New Hampshire.

Aides say Bill Clinton has long planned to campaign publicly for his wife, and Hillary Clinton often promises audiences they’ll see a lot more of him.

Mindful of his charisma and tendency to hog the attention, the campaign has played the Bill card carefully – keeping him in the shadows while giving Hillary Clinton time to establish herself independently. They followed a similar pattern in 2000 when she first ran for the Senate in New York.

“The president’s plan all along was to gradually escalate his involvement, so you’ll be seeing him more and more,” said campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson. “We think he is a huge asset and we’re excited to have him.”

Recently, Bill Clinton has cut back on his paid speeches and completed the manuscript for a book on citizen activism that will be published later this year. Aides say he’ll continue to be very active with the charitable foundation that bears his name, and he plans a weeklong trip to Africa next month on the foundation’s behalf.

But his top priority continues to be “making sure the candidate he believes will be the best president who also happens to be his wife is elected,” said his spokesman, Jay Carson.

Behind the scenes, he’s increased his fundraising since last quarter, headlining numerous high-dollar events for his wife across the country. He also narrated a five-minute biographical web video and loaned his acting skills to a witty send-up of the final scene of The Sopranos.

While the couple appeared together at several fundraisers throughout the year, they’ve attended just one campaign event together – a civil rights commemoration in Selma, Alabama, where Senator Clinton was competing with rival Democrat Barack Obama for attention and support.

That will change on the first week in July, when the Clintons plan a three-day campaign swing through Iowa. Polls there show the New York senator in a tough fight with Obama and John Edwards, even as she leads in national polls and most other state surveys.

The Clintons will also campaign together in New Hampshire July 13.

Bill Clinton did not compete in the Iowa caucuses when he first ran in 1992, but he won the state in the general election that year and again in 1996.

He credited New Hampshire with his political salvation in 1992, finishing a close second there after a bruising primary where he fought allegations of draft-dodging and philandering. He went on to win the state in both the 1992 and 1996 general elections.

Agencies

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