Backstage Role Is OK - For Now

By PATRICK HEALY The New York Times

Published: May 13, 2007

Bill Clinton's connections, and his endless supply of chits, only begin to capture his singular role in his wife's presidential candidacy, advisers and friends of the couple say.

He is the master strategist behind the scenes; the consigliere to the head of "The Family," as some Clinton aides refer to her operation; and a fundraising machine who is steadily pulling in $100,000 or more at receptions.

So far, his roles have unfolded in private as he provides ideas to his wife and makes sure she paces herself, and as he acts as something of a field general with donors, instructing them on how to talk up Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Eventually, though, he will go public in a big way: Clinton advisers can already imagine a point in 2008 when Bill Clinton has his own campaign plane, press corps and schedule of events in crucial states while Hillary Clinton is barnstorming in others.

"He is the great security blanket for her campaign: Democrats listen to him with intensity, and he can assure her and her staff that he can get her message out," said Jerry Lundergan, chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party, who recently played host to Bill Clinton at a four-hour fundraiser for the campaign.

But for all the value Bill Clinton adds to the campaign, there is internal recognition of the potential pitfalls of his involvement.

Early on, the Clintons concluded that the former president would not participate in staff conference calls, nor would he call Hillary Clinton's aides directly, advisers say. Instead, he would circulate his advice through Hillary Clinton, chief strategist Mark Penn and a couple of others. The idea has been to keep the lines of authority clear, and also to avoid the messiness and leaks that marked his White House.

Indeed, Democrats close to Hillary Clinton remain keenly aware of his foibles and blind spots. In private, these allies are blunt: He has disappointed her before, most painfully with Monica Lewinsky and the impeachment. He can be undisciplined, and his love for the cut and thrust of politics could unleash that side.

"When you're dealing with the Clintons in '08, you essentially have two candidates - her and him - and he's going to have to have a Boy Scout report card given his history," said Douglas Brinkley, the presidential historian, who is not affiliated with any campaign. "He can definitely help her, but that also means he can hurt her."

For now, Bill Clinton is purposely staying out of the spotlight because he thinks it is important for voters to get to know Hillary Clinton better, friends of the couple say. He thinks the American public will like her the more they see her - "warm up to her" is the phrase that several friends attributed to Bill Clinton.

"He's not just sitting in Chappaqua watching the game on TV and calling everybody in the campaign with advice," said Melanne Verveer, a close friend and adviser of Hillary Clinton. "He brings enormous strength and assets but is in a very secondary role."

Yet he continues to adjust to that new role.

"He's grappling with it a bit now, how he properly plays the role of subordinate," said a former senior aide to Bill Clinton. "His foundation work gives him real focus. And he wants this for her, so badly. He feels he owes it to her on so many levels, for bringing her to Arkansas in the early '70s and upending her career and everything since."