I am a bit late on this, but I still find it cute. After Hillary slams Obama for working for a slumlord we find a picture of her and Bill:  with the same slumlord.

Photo surfaces of Hillary Clinton and Tony Rezko

A photo has surfaced that shows Hillary and Bill Clinton posing with Chicago developer Tony Rezko, a Barack Obama contributor whom Hillary Clinton condemned as a "slum landlord" supporter of the Illinois senator earlier this week.

Clinton was shown the photo during an interview on NBC's Today Show this morning but told host Matt Lauer she did not remember meeting Rezko.

As she herself noted, there are literally thousands of people who had their pictures taken in the many photo ops.  This is not damning, just ironic. 

Of course, the fact he was a donor to her husband's 1996 reelection campaign might be more interesting.  Apparently slumlords; suck, but their money sure is nice.  Exit question:  How many toilets in his slums would the donations to the democrats have paid to fix?

Hmmmm?

Speaking of Bill, he is under a some serious scrutiny:

Bill Clinton again wagging finger, raising eyebrows

The resurgence of the old Bill Clinton, flushing with anger and wagging his finger as he fights for his wife's presidential bid, has cast a shadow over her campaign and could mar his new image as a global statesman.

On Friday, Hillary Clinton herself said her husband had told her he may have gone too far. "He said several times yesterday that maybe he got a little bit carried away," she told CBS's "Early Show."

Add to that:

Kerry blasts former president for 'abusing truth'

John Kerry, the Democratic Party's 2004 nominee for president, took aim at Bill Clinton Friday, telling the National Journal the former president does "not have a license to abuse the truth."

The Massachusetts senator, who endorsed Barack Obama's White House bid earlier this month, said Clinton's criticisms of the Illinois senator have been "over the top," and suggested the former president is getting "frantic."

Targeting Clinton's recent spate of attacks on Obama, Kerry said, "I think you had an abuse of the truth, is what happened. …I mean, being an ex-president does not give you license to abuse the truth, and I think that over the last days it's been over the top.

"I think it's very unfortunate, but I think the voters can see through that," Kerry added. "When somebody's coming on strong and they are growing, people get a little frantic, and I think people have seen this sort of franticness in the air, if you will."

The Clintons were at one time the darlings of the Democrats, but not any more.  Hillary has lost some important endorsements to Obama, like John Kerry and this one:

Ted Kennedy endorsing Obama

WASHINGTON -- Senator Edward M. Kennedy will endorse Barack Obama for president tomorrow, breaking his year-long neutrality to send a powerful signal of where the legendary Massachusetts Democrat sees the party going -- and who he thinks is best to lead it.

Kennedy confidantes told the Globe today that the Bay State's senior senator will appear with Obama and Kennedy's niece, Caroline Kennedy, at a morning rally at American University in Washington tomorrow to announce his support.

That will be a potentially significant boost for Obama as he heads into a series of critical primaries on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Kennedy believes Obama can ``transcend race'' and bring unity to the country, a Kennedy associate told the Globe. Kennedy was also impressed by Obama's deep involvement last year in the bipartisan effort to craft legislation on immigration reform, a politically touchy subject the other presidential candidates avoided, the associate said.

Say what you will about the bloviating Kennedy, he still represents considerable political clout, and his endorsement is another blow to the sweetheart nomination.

As for Bill, Michelle Malkin notes:

 Clinton unhinged: In the name of “love”

Bill Clinton is a sick puppy. I didn’t say it. His own wife says he’s sleep-deprived and so driven by “love” that he can’t control himself on the campaign trail.

Love for her? Or love for his own indignant voice and for preservation of his legacy/dynasty?

Love drove Bill over campaign line: Clinton

Hillary Clinton admitted Sunday her husband Bill’s hard-charging campaign tactics had gone overboard, but chalked the ex-president’s fiery broadsides up to love and a chronic lack of sleep.

I think, personally, Bill is so ego driven he cannot stomach being old news.  I think if Hillary ever was elected president she would face a constant barrage of interference and advice form the former president.

Maybe that is why:

After Obama Victory, Clinton’s Camp Seeks Gentler Role for Ex-President

Democrats inside and outside the Clinton campaign on Sunday debated and in some cases bemoaned the degree to which former President Bill Clinton’s criticism of Senator Barack Obama last week had inflicted lasting damage on his wife’s presidential candidacy.

“I think his harsh style hurt Senator Clinton — it polarized the campaign and polarized the electorate, and it also made it harder for Senator Clinton’s positive message to break through,” said Celinda Lake, a Democratic strategist and pollster who is not affiliated with any of the candidates.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign team, seeking to readjust after her lopsided defeat in South Carolina and amid a sense among many Democrats that Mr. Clinton had injected himself clumsily into the race, will try to shift the former president back into the sunnier, supportive-spouse role that he played before Mrs. Clinton’s loss in the Iowa caucuses, Clinton advisers said..

Translation:  Bill!  Sit.  Stay.

CBS News thinks the damage is done, not just to her campaign but to his legacy and reputation:

 Analysis: Bill Clinton's Lost Legacy - CBSNews.com's Vaughn Ververs: Inflammatory Remarks Tarnish Ex-President's Reputation

 The man crowned as America's first black president for his unprecedented personal connection to the African-American community has abdicated the throne.

By injecting himself into the Democratic primary campaign with a series of inflammatory and negative statements, Bill Clinton may have helped his wife's presidential hopes in the long term but at the cost of his reputation with a group of voters that have long been one of his strongest bases of political support.

It was one phrase that began the racial ball rolling. When Bill Clinton referred to Obama's claims of consistent opposition to the war in Iraq as "the biggest fairy tale that I have ever seen," many blacks heard more than policy criticism. They heard a dismissive attack on the first black with a real chance of winning the White House. They heard echoes of racial battles of the past. And they heard it from someone who was supposed to be on their side.

Well, like it or not, the racial divide was inevitable.  The whole "first black president" was always a subtle insult, as if to say that apparently people thought a black person could not be elected, so they settled for a white guy who was kind of black.

And the fact is that ALL campaigns eventually become I am better then he is, so negative campaigning is a fact of life.  Grow up people.

But the article takes it a step further:

And the nasty tactics had another purpose - to knock the candidate of "hope" off the mountaintop and down into the gutters of hardball politics. Forcing the man who has sought to connect himself to the legacy of inspirational leaders of the nation's past (he announced his candidacy in the shadow of Abraham Lincoln) to trade blows and accusations with Bill Clinton on the divisive issue of race only serves to muddy both. And there's some evidence that it worked. Fifty-eight percent of South Carolina voters said they felt Obama unfairly attacked Clinton during the campaign.

Should Clinton win the nomination by marginalizing Obama as a black candidate, she may well end up in the White House. The sign outside should read: Still wanted, the first black president.

So the article is implying directly that Clinton is trying to marginalize Obama as being black.

Blue Crab Blvd notes:

Ververs thinks that Clinton has likely succeeded in labeling Obama as the black candidate and that Hillary may win the nomination now. The cost will be high. It's already lost Bill the legacy he craved and replaced it with one of rank, gutter politics of the worst kind. Personally, I think the damage will be severe and lasting.

 I think if people had paid attention, they would recognize that this is just the real people shining through.  If anything this is just a rude awakening to those who foolishly idolized the Clintons.

Or as Macsmind says:

I would take exception that Clinton’s legacy is being tarnished. It’s not, it’s just the one the media made up. They called him “The first black president”, I never heard a black person make that claim.¹ The Clinton legacy has always been about this type of “Politics of Destruction”, or “Scorched Earth Politics” if you will. They invented it. It’s the politics of Carvelle and Begala and the rest of the thugs that helped Clinton destroy his enemies in the 90s.

Just as I said in the previous post, Bubba is doing nothing more than to show the true side of Democratic politics, and it’s going to get worse, far worse if Obama continues to be successful.

 Pretty much, yea.  Adversity is a strange thing.  As long as the Clintons could hide behind the warm, loving exterior, they were happy to do so.  But once the other side plays hardball, they take off the gloves and masks, and the truth comes out.

 No matter how you slice it, the battle of these two is just getting started.

Oh, I suppose I should end with all the relevant posts about Edwards:

...

Oh wait, that's assuming his candidacy is still relevant.

My bad...

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1. note:  Mac notes in his comments the correction that the initial claim was from  African-American writer Toni Morrison. [back]

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