Steve Kornacki: “The high-profile help that he’s lending Barack Obama — starring in a campaign video about Osama bin Laden’s killing, headlining a fund-raiser in Virginia last night, plotting campaign strategy with top Obama lieutenants — speaks to Bill Clinton’s unique status among former presidents: Not since Theodore Roosevelt a century ago has one managed to remain such a political force after leaving office.”

“Clinton is more popular than ever right now, notching a 67-29 percent favorable in one recent poll,
which helps explain why Obama is eager to enlist him in what should be a
tight general election campaign. There really is no modern precedent
for a former president being so actively engaged in a national election
so long after leaving the White House.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “definitively said she wants out of politics,” ABC News reports.

“During a town hall meeting with State Department employees this morning Clinton said she is ready to step off ‘the high wire of American politics.’ She said she’s paying no attention to the battle for the Republican presidential nomination and hasn’t watched any of the debates.”

Bill Clinton told Newsmax about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s future career plans.

Said Clinton: “I think she wants — and she has said publicly — to continue a lot of the work that she’s done, she did as a private citizen, as first lady, as senator and as secretary of state. Around the world, she’s done an enormous amount of good in, you now, the so-called soft power areas, empowering women and girls, helping them, giving them access to capital, helping them make a living, promoting better healthcare practices.”

He added: “I think she will have a major role to play in the nongovernmental world. That’s what she plans to do, and I think she’ll do it well.”

Bill Clinton told Morning Joe that presidents should be allowed to serve a third term — “though he quickly added that such a change shouldn’t be applied to him,” USA Today reports.

He added that a third term shouldn’t be consecutive — presidents should be required to take time off after serving eight years.

Said Clinton: “I believe that should be the rule. And I think as a practical matter, you couldn’t apply to anyone who has already served. But if going forward, I personally believe that should be the rule.”

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