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WHAT HAPPENED Several Democratic leaders this week appealed to Bill Clinton to end his war of words with Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton’s rival for the party’s presidential nomination. Some
Democrats fear the exchange of attacks between the campaigns will erode the party’s unity no matter who wins the nomination. (_The Washington Post_, free registration) Clinton said Obama’s
campaign was running a political smear campaign against him through the media. (CNN) WHAT THE COMMENTATORS SAID SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news,
plus analysis from multiple perspectives. SUBSCRIBE & SAVE SIGN UP FOR THE WEEK'S FREE NEWSLETTERS From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of
The Week delivered directly to your inbox. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. Bill Clinton is giving
party leaders—and even some of Hillary’s aides—“political heartburn,” said Lisa Anderson in the _Chicago Tribune_, but “many voters seem to think the former president is just doing his duty”
to help Hillary. And they like the idea that, if she wins, “Bill is the bonus.” Well, yes, the Clintons have always been a package deal, said Rosa Brooks in the _Los Angeles Times_ (free
registration). But they’re “playing a dangerous game. The more they remind us of what we liked about Act I of the Bill and Hillary Show, the more they also remind us of what we hated.”
Bill’s destroying Hillary’s main selling point, said Gail Collins in _The New York Times_ (free registration). Her experience during Clinton I is supposed to help her “hit the ground
running,” but “Bill’s role as Chief Attack Dog undermines that. If he’s all over her campaign, he’ll be all over her administration.” The former president may be getting the message, said
Christopher Beam in a _Slate_ blog. Speaking to a crowd in South Carolina, he said that, despite the “mean things” Obama’s campaign was saying about him, he would do everything in his power
to get Obama elected if he wins the nomination. A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com Cooling down the rhetoric will certainly
appeal to African American voters, said Matt Stearns in the Raleigh, N.C., _News & Observer_. Obama—who could become the first black president—has a huge lead in South Carolina polls
ahead of the state’s Saturday primary—in which half the voters will be black. Some black voters say “the dust-up—which has touched on race, Obama's alleged admiration of Ronald Reagan
and the consistency of Obama's opposition to the Iraq war—soured them on Clinton.” No wonder Rep. James Clyburn, an influential South Carolina Democrat, warned Bill to
"chill."