The American Spectator

p> NEEDY PEOPLE br> Word is that former President Bill Clinton has turned down recent overtures from Sen. John Edwards to meet with North Carolina smoothie. “He’s been trying to drum up support from us for his presidential bid,” says a current Clinton aide. “But President Clinton isn’t committing to anything right now.” /p>

Clinton, for now, is said to be willing to sit on the sideline and watch everything play out. “He may not commit to anyone until well into the primary season,” says the aide. “He wants to go with the ultimate winner.”

Clinton may also be feeling a bit hurt that none of the other potential Democratic candidates, Sen. John Kerry, Sen.Tom Daschle, and Rep. Dick Gephardt has approached him for advice or assistance, and that this threesome has shunned many of the former Clinton hands who played pivotal roles in his previous campaign victories.

“At some point Clinton will have to be part of the Democratic presidential campaign,” says a Kerry adviser. “But we don’t need him right now, really, for anything. It’s far too early to be pulling out the big guns.” And besides, the adviser adds, who says Clinton wants the Democrats to win in 2004? “He has a candidate of his own who will probably want to run down the road in 2008,” the adviser says, referring, if you’re still stumped, to Sen. Hillary Clinton. “If a Democrat is already in the White House, her chances are diminished, unless she’s on the bottom of the ticket.”

p> DOG GONE br> Someone won’t be celebrating a lot on St. Patrick’s Day. President Bush’s English springer spaniel, Spot