The Hillary and Bill Show

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Thanks to Bill Clinton's eight years in office, Hillary Clinton is by association an established dynastic candidate rather than the emblem of change that Americans say they want from their next President. A strategist for Barack Obama acknowledges that Bill Clinton is a "wildly popular former President" but notes that "people are anxious to turn the page from the politics we have now ... Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton doesn't sound a whole lot different."

But Bill Clinton knows all about how to be a "candidate of change"; it's what won him the White House in 1992 after he stole the title from Ross Perot, the hot reform candidate of the cycle. Clinton took advantage of the country's desire to turn the page on the Bush era. That pattern might be repeated. Perhaps just as Bush 41's failed Administration begat Clinton 42, Bush 43's war in Iraq and unpopular stewardship could pave the way for Clinton 44.

Moreover, Clinton partisans argue, to make change happen, a President must be ready for the job. Clinton strategists are aware that many voters associate the charismatic and youthful Obama with the ideal of change, but they are betting that voters see Hillary Clinton as the only candidate capable of implementing change.

In order to shine the spotlight on the future—and on Hillary Clinton—her campaign needs to make sure that the former President stays in a supporting role. That's a tall order for a man who has naturally drawn attention his whole life—and loves it.

So far, Bill Clinton is sticking to his lines. At the Iowa State Fairgrounds, he was first to address the rapt crowd, promising to make "just a couple of points" before bringing on his wife. And for once, he actually meant "just a couple," at least by Bill Clinton standards. The former President spoke for just over eight minutes in a role carefully designed by Senator Clinton's strategists, recounting her long history of public service leading up to the Senate, calling her "by a long stretch, the best-qualified nonincumbent I have ever had a chance to vote for."

With the crowd duly warmed up, Hillary Clinton took the stage for 25 minutes, dwelling on her biography and on her major issues (health care, environment, education, Iraq, international leadership and, as always, experience). She attacked the alleged corrupt practices and cronyism of the Bush White House, just as her husband did 16 years ago with a different Bush.