I’ve been thinking that the real importance of Bill’s "energetic" interventions on behalf of Hillary has less to do with his controversial statements and more to do with a growing perception that he is running for co-president. The real ‘Bill problem’ might be that he is starting to turn people off to the idea of Hillary in the White House, because whatever they might feel about her, they don’t want Bill in the White House. He’s not some non-descript Mr. Thatcher–he’s a former president of the United States with some bones to pick, and he will not stand meekly by. Gary Wills makes that point in today’s NYT:
One problem with the George W. Bush administration is that it has brought a kind of plural presidency in through the back door. Vice President Dick Cheney has run his own executive department, with its own intelligence and military operations, not open to scrutiny, as he hides behind the putative president.
No other vice president in our history has taken on so many presidential prerogatives, with so few checks. He is an example of the very thing James Wilson was trying to prevent by having one locus of authority in the executive. The attempt to escape single responsibility was perfectly exemplified when his counsel argued that Mr. Cheney was not subject to executive rules because he was also part of the legislature.
We have seen in this campaign how former President Clinton rushes to the defense of presidential candidate Clinton. Will that pattern of protection be continued into the new presidency, with not only his defending her but also her defending whatever he might do in his energetic way while she’s in office? It seems likely. And at a time when we should be trying to return to the single-executive system the Constitution prescribes, it does not seem to be a good idea to put another co-president in the White House.
This could be a theme to be developed in Obama’s favor if Hillary doesn’t take steps to rein Bill in. Is he rein-inable? It’s not about his role as ‘heavy’, but about whether he’s controllable. He may be doing everything he does with Hillary’s approval; nevertheless, he makes Hillary look weak insofar as she is unable to tie down her loose cannon of a husband, and this could sour a lot of people who might otherwise want to vote for her. Not sure about that, but it’s something to consider.
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