Looking Back on Bill Clinton in South Carolina

Should Hillary Clinton fail to win the Dem nomination, many will look back at Bill Clinton's antics in South Carolina as the point where the wheels began to come off the Clinton machine. So, how did that all come to pass?

A new report says Bill Clinton was not supposed to spend nearly as much time as he did campaigning for his wife in South Carolina — prior to that state's primary. Hillary Clinton lost to Barack Obama by a two-to-one margin —- in what most political analysts believe was a disastrous week for the candidate.

The Los Angeles Times reports Mr. Clinton overruled his wife's campaign strategists — who did not believe they could win South Carolina — and had wanted to him to move on quickly and concentrate on other southern states. But campaign aides tell the Times Mr. Clinton decided to stay several days — during which time he got into a series of angry confrontations with the press and others — and hurt his wife's standing with many African Americans.

Mr. Clinton, among other things, called Obama's version of his stance on the Iraq war a "fairy tale" — then compared Obama's win in South Carolina to that of Jesse Jackson 20 years earlier.

Yet another reason why I predict Hill will dump Bill within one year of her losing the nomination or the general election.