Rove 101: Attack your opponent's perceived strength and try to turn it into a weakness.
There's really no way to avoid the realization that Bill is Hillary's greatest strength. While accomplished and talented on her own, Hillary has never been able to match Bill for pure charisma, media effectiveness, or emotive connection with the American people. She has established herself in the Senate on her own, and done exemplary work there building a centrist voting record. Still, there's no denying that every voter who buys into Hillary for President just because of Hillary, there are many for whom Hillary gets the consideration, but it's love for Bill that makes the sale.
There are many excellent senators, but none are married to an overwhelmingly popular former president who loves to campaign.
Bill is Hillary's greatest strength.
The problem for Democrats, is that Bill has effectively done to Hillary what it usually takes diabolical schemes, push polls, or overwhelmingly illegal / treasonous activities to achieve. That is: Rove 101. Attack your opponent's perceived strength and try to turn it into a weakness.
Rove hasn't had to, because Bill's done it for her. In a dozen ways, Bill is cutting Hillary off at the knees.
Driving Progressives to Obama
There's a moment in the life of every progressive activist that I like to call the moment of "Existential Clinton Crisis". It's the moment when a normal, happy, devoted Democratic party member reads a policy level critique of the Clinton era and suddenly must realize that Clinton's "Third Way" politics were a disaster for the progressivism which left the party greatly weakened and primed for subsequent failure.
After initially getting crushed on gays in the military and on healthcare reform, Bill began a policy of faking left but charting right, which resulted in massive welfare reform, NAFTA and other right-wing triumphs. When Alan Greenspan became the first national figure to call Bill "the Best Republican President in quite a while", progressives who'd already had their "Existential Clinton Crisis" could only nod knowingly (I first used that phrase back in 2005), while the pre-Crisis Dems stood aghast at Greenspan's seeming attempt to re-brand our party's greatest living figure.
The party faithful still look to bill for leadership and, let's face it, the guy's a freakin' rock star. Still, the more progressives see him, the more we remember that when he had all the power, he let the cause down. Hillary shows ever indication of being just as much a Triangulator, which is the real basis of all of the "I can't support Hillary" bs we see from Obama and Edwards supporters. Let's face it, we'll all close ranks and vote for the nominee, the question is how hard we'll work and how much we'll really hope to be able to achieve.
Demonizing Hope
Bill was the "Man from Hope". He immortalized his life story as the unfortunate son of an alcoholic father and single mother from a little town in Arkansas with a very fortunate name. He was the scout who met Kennedy, and the Rhodes Scholar who'd electrified the political sphere with the concept of "New Democrats".
When he ran the first two times, Bill was the "Man from Hope", but now he's not. Obama is the "Hope" candidate now. Obama is the "Change" candidate now. Obama is the "Yes, we can!" candidate now. He speaks with the certainty of Roosevelt, with the Grace of King and with the charisma of Kennedy.
With his victory speech in Iowa, Obama achieved what few politicians ever do - he stopped being a political operator, and became a political concept. At that moment he became the potential fulfillment of King's dream, the potential resurrection of Kennedy's national service ethic, and the potential, and the potential of a lasting political and cultural transformation unlike anything America has seen or called for since the era of the "New Deal".
The true power of this, however isn't in the concept of "Change", but in the "Yes, we can", because with that call, Obama becomes merely a focus point for the true transformational spirit living and yearning to emerge into the world that is held in the heart and spirit of every living American.
Obama's "Hope" when contrasted with Bills, is greater, because it isn't Obama's at all, it belongs to America. Every attack that Bill makes on that, is an attack on American Greatness, which weakens love for Bill. But here's the real trick: the fact that Hillary isn't making those attacks makes it even worse for her, because it reminds America, that while Bill's no Obama, Hillary's no Bill.
Killing the Black Vote
Dick Morris is pure slime. Once Bill Clinton's most trusted pollster/advisor/1996 Campaign manager. He led liberal Bill down the primrose path of DLC politics. When he was ousted for allowing a prostitute to listen in on conversations with Bill he disappeared for a few years, but then arose as the smarmy Clinton bashing expert over at FOX Opinion Media.
Dick Morris is pure slime, but his latest gut slash at the Clintons is most sickening in that it is being proven true by the Clinton team itself.
Death of the Rainbow Coalition
Reminding us all of "Clinton Fatigue"
Outshing Her in Every Way