Would-Be First Spouse Thrives Out of Spotlight

Six weeks after Bill Clinton’s aggressive role in his wife’s campaign jeopardized her African-American support and helped drive Ted Kennedy to endorse Barack Obama, the potential First Gentleman is taking a more subdued tack, working far from the media eye to shore up rural voters, bring in the money, and woo superdelegates, the AP reports.

"Wooing superdelegates is the best possible way to use him," says ex-spokesman Mike McCurry. Clinton no longer even mentions Obama, and he hasn’t appeared on a stage with his wife since Feb. 5. In the role of traditional political spouse, he's “in a place he’s very comfortable with,” says McCurry. “But I’m sure he’s biting his tongue a lot.” (More Bill Clinton stories.)