Bill's Moment

"You should make a conscious decision for words over deeds, for a feeling over the fact of change," Clinton said early this afternoon. "It's your country, you can do whatever you want, you own it ... You can make a judgment and it's your country, but don't go into this thing thinking there are no judgments and there's no decision to make."

So said Bill Clinton to New Hampshire crowds after Obama's win in Iowa, according to this Salon piece on Bill's "passive-agressive" pitch.

You gotta think this is Bill Clinton's moment, at least in his mind. (I know, it's always Bill's moment in his mind, but I mean more than usual.) Hillary's Iowa debacle endangers both of their futures. Now he finds himself making what might be the final big play of their partnership in New Hampshire. It was there in 1992 that the self-proclaimed "Comeback Kid" escaped the first trap he set for himself to blow up on the national level -- Gennifer Flowers. With Hillary Wynette playing her role on "60 Minutes," Bill managed to come in second behind Paul Tsongas, and all the elements of the Clinton psychodrama America was to witness for years to come were in place.

A big part of this drama has been Bill's vaunted ability to connect with people, one on one and in crowds, which established something strong enough to overcome whatever people felt about his personal shortcomings. It oddly echoed what most people assumed held their marriage together: some kind of agreement that their partnership was more important than their marriage vows.

But Bill is not on the ballot this time, and his aura may not be enough to save Hillary's candidacy. And now the undisputed master of the politics of feelings is reduced to begging people to use their heads and ignore that fuzzy feeling they get from Obama.

I feel his pain.