Brain Fertilizer

Yanno? I'm just not sure what to make of this:

"If you go back and read what (Bush) said in the campaign, he's just doing what he'd said he'd do. You've got to give him credit for that... No one has the whole truth," Clinton said.

This comes from an article about President Clinton's new book.

Some people will cynically say that he is only trying to scuttle Kerry's candidacy so his wife will have a chance to run in 2008. I'm not so sure. First, she might have a better chance in 2012, actually, since it would coincide more neatly with her Senate terms. Anyway, I'm not sure he likes her enough to help her out that way. People have said he likes power (and I generally agree), but I think he's starting to realize how fun it is to be a former President, and I don't think he would have the same freedom as a First Husband.

The second possible cynical theory is that Legacy is more important to him than Power, and that seems right in line with my assessment of his character. For this theory to be correct, you have to assume that he thinks history will be on President Bush's side, and he wants to hitch his wagon to a rising star to help rehabilitate his image. Since one clear talent of President Clinton is to sense the shifting of political winds, that only strengthens this theory to me.

But perhaps all that is too cynical. Dunno...in my experience, cynicism is the most appropriate reaction to most things Clintonian....

The final possibility is simply that President Clinton is offering his honest opinion, and if that helps to support President Bush (as it does), it's simply that he is beyond politics now as an ex-President. If so, that earns a little more respect from me...which helps rehabilitate his image among Republicans/conservatives, which helps his legacy...see Theory No. 2, eh?