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Campaign Crawlers

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Keene Pickrel, who came to a Hillary Clinton rally in Marshalltown, Iowa on Monday from a nearby home for veterans, wants to see a woman in the White House.

"I'm for women's rights, and this is the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life," Pickrel said. "If she could win this, if she could pull this baby off, it'd be great."

As if it were an added bonus, he predicted: "If Hillary goes in there and she has any trouble, Bill will help her out."

Several Hillary Clinton supporters even cited the infamous "two for the price of one" phrase in a positive sense.

While the affection for Bill may be providing a boost for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, it is unclear how the prospect of extending a two-family dynasty would play among the general electorate.

Even among Iowa Democrats, Bill Clinton is a double-edged sword for Hillary.

"I don't know if I want another Clinton in the White House," Kevin Eggers told me before the same rally in Marshalltown. As a union member during the 1990s, Eggers opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Bill signed, making labor leaders more reluctant to support Hillary. The concentration of union membership in the Hawkeye State is one reason why Clinton has faced a tighter race than in other parts of the country, and it explains why in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Monday she said she would appoint a trade enforcement officer and called for a reassessment of NAFTA.

If Hillary Clinton becomes the nominee, to the extent that she runs on Bill's record in the general election, she may benefit from the positive memories Americans have of the 1990s, but she'll open herself up to criticism of all of the things that Americans didn't like about him. Furthermore, at a time when the best thing that Democrats have going for them is a tremendous desire for change among the electorate, it's not so obvious that in a matchup between her and any of the leading Republicans, Hillary would be the clear "change" candidate.

topics:
Trade, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Business