Do the Clintons Really Want Obama to Win?

Amid all this year's psychodramas about gender, race and age, consider the conflict in the heart and soul of the 42nd President of the United States as he looks back at his past and ahead to his place in history.

This week Bill Clinton gave Barack Obama lunch in his Harlem office, a promise to do "whatever I'm asked" in the campaign and a prediction that Obama "will win and win handily" in November.

But nothing is simple in Clintonland. The day before, the former President had another visitor, billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, head of the "vast right wing conspiracy" that had financed his impeachment. They talked cozily about doing good in the world, just as Hillary had met with the editorial board of Scaife's Pittsburgh newspaper and won their endorsement in this year's primary.

Since there are no permanent friends or enemies in the Clintons' lives (ask Bill Richardson), their support of Obama requires close parsing.

Without his own marital melodrama, there would be little reason to doubt Clinton's sincerity about seeing Obama as a logical heir to his and JFK's Democratic legacies. But the bruising primary season and Hillary Clinton's future hopes can't be left out of the equation.

At times this year, Bill Clinton seemed to be subverting his wife's campaign out of pique in what Maureen Dowd called "a self-pitying meltdown about not being Elvis anymore" and, even worse, out of some twisted need to undermine the woman who stood by him. After the contest was over, he reportedly told friends that Obama would "have to kiss my ass" to get his support.

Now, to make matters even stickier, there is the complication of Sarah Palin. If John McCain, with a woman as his running mate, wins in November, the Democratic door is open for Hillary Clinton in 2012.

This means that both Clintons have to be careful in campaigning for Obama not to alienate diehard supporters who saw sexism in this year's defeat and would be a core part of her support the next time around. Those who refuse to back Obama would take it amiss if either Clinton went after Palin.

So for both Clintons, there is personal risk in going all out to get Obama elected.

The "Profiles in Courage" question is: Will they put their country and their party first? Or is it silly to ask?

What Hillary Should Say Tonight

Fellow Democrats, I had hoped to be standing here under different circumstance, but I am proud to be with you and thank those who worked with me to change the face of American politics. That we have done and, although the face this time is not mine, there is still much more for us to do.

A decade ago, I saw first-hand the politics of personal destruction and the lengths to which those who practice it will go in their lust for power. The bitter irony now is that they are invoking my name in an attempt to destroy the opponent with whom I engaged in an intense but honorable contest for the nomination we will be bestowing on him here.

Back then, before the evidence of the past eight years, I described it a vast right-wing conspiracy. Now we know what it is really is--a radical attempt to undermine American values with needless wars, infringement of traditional rights and usurping all the fruits of the American economy for themselves at the expense of hard-working families.

I repudiate them now as I did then and urge everyone who has honored me with support to do the same. They are the true enemies of everything we believe in, and we must not let them practice their divide-and-conquer tactics on us.

If you support Barack Obama with all your heart, as I do, we can rid ourselves of their toxic effects on American life for a long time to come. Yes we can.

Hillary Clinton's Nuclear Option

Now that the Obama wave has turned tidal, the Clinton campaign may have to roll out its ultimate weapon.

For the sake of the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, who has lived through the worst attacks that the "vast right- wing conspiracy" can launch, is obliged to help toughen Barack Obama's ability to withstand what they will throw at him if he wins the nomination.

As a survivor of Whitewater, Travelgate and the impeachment, isn't it her solemn duty to inoculate Obama against the Republican smears and swiftboating that will surely belabor him after Labor Day?

How will he explain his dealings with the slumlord Rezko, facing trial in federal court for corruption? What will he say when they bring up his admitted drug use? How will he respond to questions about his patriotism?

In the one area of experience in which she clearly surpasses him--being attacked by Republicans--Hillary Clinton is duty-bound to make sure Barack Obama can survive to win the White House for the Democrats. Surely she should help him rehearse his responses.

Thursday night's debate in Texas may not be too soon to start.