Of course, this won't stop the chattering classes from chattering about the rift in the Democratic Party.

You ever realize how stupid political punditry has gotten? McCain's flip-flops are to be trusted, but flat statements about support are going to be dissected to the nth degree?

Greg, are you ever going to bring back Horse's Mouth? I miss it.

Nice of him to force that past his tightly clenched teeth! LOL

I really do understand how he feels so I'm not surprised he didn't haul out all his Big Dawg charm and lay it on for Obama. I'm sure he hates his guts right now. It's only natural.

I have had a feeling for some time that the Hillary/Obama "riff" isn't nearly as personal or serious as the Bill/Obama split. Bill is only 60 or so years old. His health seems good. I don't think he is ready to become an elder statesman. Obama is a bigger threat to his personal ego than anybody wants to admit. If Obama is elected Bill stands to lose his position as Democratic "top dog." That means a lot to Bill's self image.

That's a misleading headline. A statement issued by his office is very different from a formal public appearence in support. If this is an endorsement, probably it's an endorsement of reluctance to support.

I think the key phrase in the statement is "is asked to do," which intimates to me that they've had no discussion of any role to date.

Which is, incidentally, fine by me as Bill has shown an uncanny lack of ability to keep his fly up and/or his mouth shut.

He was an excellent campaigner for John Kerry IMHO . . . okay so it didn't work out, but still . . .

Best political endorsement since Edward V's head, neatly nicked off just seconds before, said of its uncle, Richard (Part III) in a bitter concession: "I think he'll make a cracking good king!"

Is it me or is Bill Clinton a big baby?

Here's what we need Bill to do:
Go home and shut up.

If you were Bill Cliton and you were described as the first black President by somebody, now you got implied as a racist by an opponent's camp in the primary. Your wife just lost to an empty-suit because of stupid process and rule and media's fascination with an untested young fellow who were debating highway toll two years ago. How would you feel? do you think he should volunteer to go to compaign without being asked?

Nobama, at this stage, still accused of the Clinton compaign implying his a muslim. How slimy a figure he is! He wants people to get over it? No way, Barry! We are PUMA.

Let's make it clear: a vote for McCain is a safe vote. With Democrats expected to increase majority in the Congress, he can do no harm unilaterally. Iraq is succeeding and he can manage that much better than Nobama. Woman's choice is not under threat. Even if McCain appoints justice overturn the rights, they merely go back to the states. Very few changes will be there to limit abortions. If there are more restrictions, on the other hand, there may not be as many unprepared pregnacy anyway. Damn it, you have RU486, you have condoms. Why do you need an abortion?

In terms of economics, McCain will be a much beter President. Raising capital gain tax and income tax, at this time or age, will kill this fragile economy.

For the people want to have a Democratic congress, you should want McCain to succeed. If the Democrats have total control of the government, you don't know how much damages they are capable of doing to our country. Just look at early days of Bush admin.

Repeat after me - gridlock is good!!!

OK, send Bill down to Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee.
Since all four are solid for McCain, he probably can't hurt Obama in any of those states.

Exactly. Eleanor Clift explainswhy the stakes are much higher for Bill Clinton than for his wife:

For Hillary Clinton it's less about legacy than what to do with the rest of her life. ...

[Bill] Clinton understands that if Barack Obama is elected, his presidency becomes an asterisk.

He should really put more effort into being an upstanding guy.

Terse?

The Obama camp probably asked him to keep any remarks under 30 words.

The less we see/hear of Bill, the better.

As a Libertarian, watching the Democratic party characteristically tear itself apart and find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory (once again) is almost entertaining, except the prospect of another four years of Republican rule is too terrifying. Please people, quit the bickering and put your damn party back together. I'll even vote for your candidate. (Not like I could stand voting for Barr.)

I can just see it now, January 2009, McCain settling into the Oval Office, and Democrats still arguing about who really won Michigan and Florida in the primaries and whether those delegates should have counted.

I'm begging you. Get it together. We have fascists to fight.

in keeping with Karl Roves country club metaphore, Bill Clinton is starting to sound like one of the old crusty guys who started a country club, and now sits around the club house drinking bourbon and bitching because they are letting Tiger Woods play on the course.

Poor Bill.

He's never been fond of Obama. Bill was the "rock star" and now his thunder is being stolen by a new generation.

But that is life. I wish Bill could handle this like a grown up.

Hillary has much better than Bill.

Bill Clinton is a whiny baby who got his feelings hurt. That's why he's not endorsing Obama.

But Bill Clinton has a beef. A Democrat who has spoken directly to Clinton about his feelings said that the former president remains “miffed” for two reasons. One is that he feels that Obama’s candidacy was essentially an anti-Clinton candidacy; that Obama ran against Clinton’s presidential record at times, implying that it was timeworn, divisive, and damaging to the party while adopting policy positions that seemed to flow directly from the Clinton oeuvre. Why should Clinton embrace a guy who spent the past twelve months bashing him and his accomplishments?

Two: Clinton is convinced that the Obama campaign went out of its way to portray the former president as a racist. Clinton wants a private meeting with Obama to sort these things out; he has reconciled himself to the reality of Obama’s nomination and does not want to sit on the sidelines.

When Obama becomes our ruler, he can have Clinton arrested for insufficient ass-kissing. What more do you want?

Obama Nation is the most insecure bunch of zealots I've ever seen. It's like you're afraid Barack is going to go all Saddam Hussein on you at a party meeting and start dragging people outside to be shot.

Where are the happy warriors?

Talk about snatching bitchiness from the jaws of victory...first you can't get Bill to shut up fast enough and now you want him to say more. You need to learn a little bit about campaign strategy. Obama people will tell the Clintons what they need and where they can help and won't want a lot of freewheeling, uncoordinated effort from them and that's the way a successful campaign is run. Further, they won't need them to hit their marks until the general campaign is in full swing and they have done what they can to establish the identity they wish to hang on McCain and that is when the Clintons and others will be asked to say their piece.

Bill's support doesn't have to be so important. It's Hillary Clinton's support that matters now. She's the celebrity Clinton of the Democratic Party now. Bill can just back the hell off for awhile. It's better for everyone that way.

Not only is it not important, it would be a mistake for Obama to have Bill campaign for him. Bill's ties to alleged con man Raffaello Follieri, who was arrested today, would be an unwelcome issue for the Obama campaign to have to deal with, to say the least.

From the NY Times:

"Raffaello Follieri, from San Giovanni Rotondo on the spur of Italy"s boot, is alive and kicking in his $40,000-a-month duplex on Fifth Avenue. Age 29, he used empty claims of church ties to befriend Douglas Band, a top aide to Bill Clinton. Band then smoothed the way to Clinton"s moneyed entourage, including the California billionaire Ronald Burkle.

That relationship birthed the unhappy union of Burkle"s Yucaipa investment operation, of which Clinton is a senior adviser, and the Follieri Group in a venture to acquire Catholic Church property Follieri said he"d get on the cheap."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/24/opinion/24cohen.html?_r=1&oref=slogin