Hillary Plays Second Fiddle to Bill in Iowa

Mary Katharine Ham | December 18, 2007 11:00 AM

Ouch:

Speaking of Mrs. Clinton: While she dispensed hand-shakes and hugs and chatted up Iowans herself, there were a couple of times when she stood by herself waiting for her husband to stop chatting up the crowd. Even Mr. Johnson had a moment where he stood alone watching the former president work his magic on the crowd.

Magic Johnson is the Mr. Johnson on the trail with them. He was, of course, asked at the campaign stop why he's not backing Obama for president:

“She has the experience, which is the key,” he said.

Asked why he wasn’t supporting a fellow African-American, Barack Obama, for the Democratic nomination, Mr. Johnson dead-panned about Mrs. Clinton, “Only 30 years of experience right here.”

Update: In addition to stealing the spotlight in Iowa, he's gaffeing again, in South Carolina this time:

"Well, the first thing she intends to do, because you can do this without passing a bill, the first thing she intends to do is to send me and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again," Clinton said in response to a question from a supporter about what his wife's "number one priority" would be as president.
Bill Clinton: He's a 1992 media-loves-me-and-doesn't-check-my-facts kind of guy in a 2007-2008 world.