Teaming Up

By NANCY GIBBS

Bill Clinton spent years rebranding himself as a global rock star, Hillary Clinton as the workhorse Senator who knew her stuff. She had the money, the machine and the momentum, until all of a sudden she didn't. There was Barack Obama, on his postpartisan pedestal, a transformational figure who somehow made hope sound hip, raised tons of cash, got kids to actually show up and vote, had red-state Democrats lining up to endorse him. This was not the fight the Clintons had trained for. Something had to change, and quickly.

So they teamed up. "I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes," Obama barked in a Jan. 21 debate as he was dragged into a brawl with what the tabloids called "the two-headed monster" named Clinton. But by then it didn't matter so much who won the night, since he lost so much just by fighting.

In their campaign to hand off the presidency one to another, the Clintons have now rotated the virtual vice presidency as well. Hillary's claim to be "ready to lead on Day One" rests on having served as de facto Veep when Bill was in office. Now it's his turn, wielding the hatchet in New Hampshire as he hacked away at the "fairy tale" that is Obama's candidacy and taking Hillary's place in South Carolina so she could focus on Super-Duper Tuesday contests. Some party elders were disturbed enough to tell him to knock it off. Some feminists wondered how satisfying it would be to see the first woman nominated being carried over the finish line by her husband. And Obama himself sounded at times like a man without hope, playing defense in the very game he had promised to end.

In the days ahead, Democrats get to choose whose choices they want to reward. To many, Obama remains a mystery: it is up to him to let voters know what he's made of and what he means. Bill Clinton remains one of the most popular Democrats alive; if he didn't think this would work, he would not put everything else he's worked for at risk. So voters will judge whether he's a loyal husband and patriot trying to ensure that the best candidate reaches the White House--or a man willing to do just about anything to get back there himself.