One of Hillary Clinton’s most potent political weapons has been her husband, the former president, whose role as attack dog in recent weeks revived her candidacy after a dispiriting setback in the Democratic caucus in Iowa.
But political analysts say that Bill Clinton’s presence could undermine her if his temper, his scandalous past, and the prospect of a Clinton “restoration” and co-presidency become the focus of voters.
Some in the Clinton campaign also are said to be apprehensive about media coverage of the 10th anniversary Saturday of his famous denial of having had an affair with Monica Lewinsky.
“I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky,” Clinton told government luminaries and reporters in the White House. “I never told anybody to lie, not a single time — never. These allegations are false.” Subsequent investigations showed they were
true.
The Clinton campaign already has been criticized for Bill Clinton’s attacks on Barack Obama, with prominent members of the black community telling the former president to tone down his rhetoric.
In recent days, Obama has accused the Clintons of doubling up on him, implying that Hillary Clinton is unable to fight her own battles.
“I can’t tell who I’m running against sometimes,” Obama said during a Democratic debate Monday in South Carolina, where he now leads Sen. Clinton.
Syracuse University political science professor Kristi Andersen said Bill Clinton’s outbursts “remind people that the Clintons thought they were going to win easily and now that is not the case. And then there is this feeling she can’t do it on her own and has to have her husband help her.”
Former top members of Clinton’s staff have discussed the former president’s inability over the years to control his temper and womanizing. Andersen said the latter was a “ticking time bomb” in the Clinton campaign.
In addition, said one former staff member who requested anonymity, if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, Bill Clinton “will be powerful and I think there is a real risk of her authority being undermined as a result.”
Peter Tarnoff, who served as undersecretary of State for Political Affairs in the Clinton administration, said it was hard to tell “how the American public would react to this activist spouse and whether it would be a problem if this activist is full of ideas, talking to foreign leaders and controlling or pushing the president.”
In recent weeks, Obama has fallen into a Clinton trap by trading punches with Bill Clinton, according to former Clinton adviser Hank Sheinkopf.
“Bill Clinton is wildly popular among Democrats,” Sheinkopf said. “It will bea different case in the general election. Bill Clinton’s tenor will certainly change.”
