Hillary’s greatest potential weakness is that she isn’t always a good judge of others. This failure to accurately read people can be a serious handicap during negotiations, an area where Hillary has little experience. And, she has shown no sign of being a bold strategic thinker.

If Obama decides to deploy him properly, Bill Clinton will be a terrific troubleshooter, perhaps in tandem once again with his old rival, George H.W. Bush. He could pick up in the Middle East where he left off in 2000. He still knows every street in Jerusalem, every pressure point in the peace process. And it might be worth seeing if there’s anything he can do to bolster civilian leadership in Pakistan.

The former president’s main shortcoming is that he sometimes forgets that he is, well, the former president. Under pressure from Obama, he released the names of donors to his library and to the Clinton Global Initiative (including $10 million from the Saudis), but after promising years ago that his buck-raking days were over, there he was in early December in Malaysia, pocketing $200,000 for a speech. He argues unpersuasively that the $13 million he gave Hillary’s campaign requires that he continue bolstering his ample fortune.

Bill Clinton’s bigger problem is that he can’t let go of his bitterness. Hillary was once the one with the long memory, while Bill forgave quickly. Now the roles are reversed. Hillary is, by all accounts, fully onboard with Obama and looking forward. But well after the election, the former president is still telling virtual strangers that Hillary would have won if this or that hadn’t happened, and he remains privately lukewarm about the president-elect.

... contd.