Bill Clinton Begins His Own Campaign For Hillary

NBC News reports that Bill Clinton will finally venture onto his own solo campaign trail today for his wife, Hillary. The first stop on the trail will be in New Hampshire today. Bill Clinton has only appeared alongside his wife on the campaign trail so far.

Now, he will hold two rallies in Nashua and Exeter, New Hampshire. While Bill Clinton endorses his wife, Hillary will be across the country in Iowa continuing her own campaign–four weeks until the Iowa caucuses.

As expected, with Bill being in the foreground and national spotlight again, his scandal in the Oval Office will gain national attention again, effectively reliving the nightmare.

Hillary spoke at a town hall in Derry, New Hampshire, and dealt with heckling about the issue already. Republican State Rep. Katherine Prudhomme O’Brien constantly interrupted the presidential hopeful to press her on her husband’s infidelity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuV-Ti_xvoc

Hillary shrugs the GOP heckler off, but she may be the beginning of many more to come–including her GOP nemesis, Donald Trump.

Trump also tweeted recently on this notion.

The worst thing Hillary could do is have her husband campaign for her. Just watch.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2016

The fighting between Hillary and the GOP has become increasingly personal, as her husband is increasingly used as bait. This is why some followers of the election say that bringing Bill back into the spotlight may not be such a great idea for the prosperity of the Clinton campaign.

Bill will still stand by her by doing one of the things that he does best–campaign fundraising, the Guardian reports. Bill Clinton has proven that he has a penchant for raising a lot of cash for campaigns. “His money-raising powers are off the chart,” said Matt Bennett, an aide in President Clinton’s White House who worked on both his presidential campaigns.

Hitting the trail for @HillaryClinton in New Hampshire today. #ImWithHer pic.twitter.com/wpIgSwKbz7

— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) January 4, 2016

Most candidates dislike the job but he actually enjoys it – and when he is in close quarters with donors he has such charm that they tend to do whatever he asks them to.

People who have worked with Bill also say that he is enthusiastic as well as intelligent. One Clinton backer, who attended one of his campaign fundraisers, told the Guardian the following.

“… having the former president in the room was powerful because he is smart, he knows the issues, he’s energetic, he can remind the base here of the economic successes that occurred when he was president.”

All of which are good attributes of the former president, yet undermined by sexual misconduct, unfortunately. The Guardian reports that political scientist, Kelly Dittmar of Rutgers University, found that the role of spouses in elections are a part of a phenomenon known as “spousal reflection.”

This could complicate things for Hillary. Dittmar spoke on the issue.

“For male candidates the concept of spousal reflection is that you use your female spouse to reflect the masculinity and leadership of the man, as a benefit to him. But female candidates don’t receive the same benefit, as their spouses often reflect their femininity, which – in politics – may cue weakness,”

This can also be viewed as a reflection of gender role stereotypes in general. The Inquisitr reports that even campaign rival Bernie Sanders has spoken on this bias with his remarks on Trump’s personal attacks.

Nevertheless, Paul Begala, a key staffer in Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential victory, says, “At the end of the day, this is Hillary’s campaign and she will win it on her own merits. But it can only help to have Pres Clinton in her corner.”

So what do you think? Will Bill Clinton stepping to the main stage hurt or help Hillary’s campaign?