For a guy who was supposedly so concerned about what other people thought of him, Bill Clinton doesn't seem to be too concerned with how he'll be remembered.
Clinton's tendency to bow to opinion polling while he was in the Oval Office is both well known and well documented. So it's a little curious that Bill persists as the controversial, faux-pas-prone side character in his wife's quixotic quest for the White House.
When Bill stepped off the front lawn of the White House and into the helicopter that took him away for the last time as President of the United States back in January of 2001, he was riding high. Having weathered the storms of Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky, his approval rating was still astronomical. Despite the relatively warm feeling toward Republicans at the time (the GOP held majorities in both the House and the Senate), NBC News and the Wall Street Journal put the 42nd president's approval ratings at a healthy 66%.
But today, as Clinton traverses the American mainland on behalf of Hillary, he doesn't fare nearly as well. As of March 25, just 42% of those polled had either a "very positive" or "somewhat positive" opinion of the former president, according to the same source. And it gets worse. A Diaego/Hotline poll released on April 1 put the president's unfavorability rating over 50%, a threshold he never crossed even during the most tumultuous of his second term as president.
The drop has at the very least a suggestive correlation to his role in Hillary's candidacy. In fact, another Diaego/Hotline poll taken on the eve of the former First Lady's announcement that she'd be running for president, the climate was about as positive as it had been for Bill: 60% favorable, and just 36% unfavorable.
And it's not hard to see the reason for the significant drop in his numbers. Clinton has pursued the opportunity to return to Pennsylvania Avenue like few candidates have themselves. Pundits and commentators have been speculating all along that the intensity and rigor with which Bill is campaigning seems to indicate that he wants to win just as badly, if not more so, than she does.
But as much as an asset as Bill Clinton was initially thought to be (and of course, the edge in fundraising in undeniable), he's been as much of a liability for Hillary at the same time. Bill's chronic reoccurrence of foot-in-mouth disease has plagued Hillary's bid, bringing negative attention to the campaign at some of the most inopportune times.
There was the entire series of racial flaps in South Carolina- the comparisons to Jesse Jackson, and so on. There was his vehement assertion that he opposed the Iraq War from the outset (raising the obvious question: if Bill's saying he was right to oppose it all along, then why didn't Hillary?). He's lost his temper with reporters. He tried to weigh in on the Bosnia trip debacle, only to reopen fresh wounds and further bungle the campaign's efforts to end the dialogue surrounding it. It may be too early to say that Bill has had a negative aggregate effect on his wife's campaign. But he certainly hasn't helped his own image.
Moreover, it's not as if Bill's legacy at all depended on his wife ascension to the presidency. He's taken on this role voluntarily, and involved himself to a greater degree than any in United States history. While Bill's dual roles as candidate-spouse and former president present a somewhat unique scenario, it's not entirely unprecedented. When George W. Bush ran for the presidency, his father was put in a position not unlike Bill Clinton's. But while Bush played a considerable role in his son's campaign, he remained largely out of the spotlight, focusing instead on gathering support behind the scenes. And the result is undeniable: by no stretch of the imagination was George H.W. Bush nearly as divisive a figure- even within his own party- during the 2000 elections as Bill Clinton is in this one.
Bill may have gotten in over his head- and at a major cost. Memories of his presidency- despite the success he enjoyed with the balanced budget, the booming economy (largely as a result of the dot-com explosion), and foreign policy- are already bogged down with the scandals that arose from his personal life. And as time wears on, some of what he believed would be the highlight of his tenure may prove to be utter failures in the long run (like NAFTA). But now, consider Bill's shrinking stature in the eyes of the American people. In the end, the final impression left by William Jefferson Clinton may be that of a moderately successful president and, from the looks of things now, an ultimately unsuccessful political opportunist.
