John F. Harris surveys the damage that Bill Clinton has done to his wife’s presidential campaign among the very people she desperately needs in order to win — fellow Democrats. They are disgusted and turned off.
The problem is not that Bill Clinton is Bubba but that he is Eddie Haskell — smug, smarmy, self-absorbed.
(Note to those under 50: If you don’t get the Eddie Haskell reference, go do a little research on the old Leave It to Beaver TV series. It’s a perfect analogy.)
The damage is serious, but not necessarily fatal. Harris has seen the Clintons bounce back from worse.
In his own career, Clinton’s errors have always been followed by recovery, self-indulgence by self-correction. The next several weeks will determine whether he can follow the same pattern on behalf of his spouse.
UPDATE: Here is a great video montage of clips from the Sunday talk shows, featuring a wide range of pundits excoriating the performance of the Billary machine. Hillary definitely has to go into damage control mode. (via Ann Althouse)
