Bill Clinton seen as upstaging Hillary - - Bill in a china shop.

[jefferson_dem]

Bill Clinton seen as upstaging Hillary
BY MICHAEL McAULIFF in Des Moines
and THOMAS M. DeFRANK in Dallas
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

Wednesday, December 19th 2007, 4:00 AM

Hillary Clinton's husband may be a political genius, but he's also a Bill in a china shop.

And Tuesday, he went on a minirampage, grabbing unflattering headlines and hogging the spotlight at an event with Magic Johnson while stumping for his wife in Des Moines.

Campaigning at a Hy-Vee supermarket, he broke past a rope line at the carefully scripted stop to greet star-struck Iowans, creating near-chaos. A swarm of reporters followed the ex-President into the deli and produce sections. The basketball legend and senator were left mostly with the autograph seekers, while Bill Clinton answered questions about Sen. Joseph Lieberman from the political press and about the former First Couple's private life from "Entertainment Tonight."

"We've always had a good time; we're always laughing about something," Bill Clinton said, before getting back on message, touting the famous Hillary friends blanketing Iowa for her this week.

But Hillary Clinton might not be amused at the brouhaha her husband caused by saying that as President, she would immediately enlist the first President Bush to repair the overseas mess his son is leaving.

The New York senator has also said she'd reach out to past Presidents to help fix America's image. But Bubba's more pointed suggestion that Poppy would help clean up his son's mess provoked a smackdown from the older Bush's camp.

"That will not happen. There is no way he would do anything that would even indirectly suggest he has problems with his son's foreign policy," a longtime friend of George H.W. Bush told the Daily News.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/12/19/2007-12-19_bill_clinton_seen_as_upstaging_hillary.html