Bill Clinton did precisely what Hillary had done to him in '92. Remember "two for the price of one?" It didn't work then, and Hillary retreated from the front lines, turning herself into a Stepford wife. A cartoon that ran shortly before the election showed Bill at the podium and on the stage next to him was a small box with air holes. The caption read: "Only three more days, Hillary, and you can come out."

Two-for-one is not a winning slogan. It's too late to put Bill into a box though he's now campaigning like he's in a straitjacket, sticking to the script and, in his words, refusing to take the bait. The Clintons think they're the victims, that the media is infatuated with Obama and out to get them. Fairly or unfairly, our whole way of doing politics is on trial in this campaign. Democrats for so long wished they had their own Karl Rove, and when they got him in the guise of the Clintons they discovered he is really yesterday, his theories discredited.

Hillary is better than that, but the core of her campaign is that she can beat the right-wing attack machine, and her election would insure the continuation of the attack-and-divide politics that distinguish the Bush-Rove era. The differences between Clinton and Obama on the issues are small. Voters are deciding on the basis of who they think can best rally the country and work the levers of government, and they're voting not only for a candidate but a style of politics. Both candidates showed in Los Angeles they're capable of rising above the petty slights of a heated campaign. The choice for Democrats just got a whole lot harder. These two people are of such high quality that the party and the country can't lose.

© 2008