For the Sake of the Clinton Legacy, Dean Must Lose

For the Sake of the Clinton Legacy, Dean Must Lose

Dean isn't running for president, he's running against Bill Clinton for the soul of the Democratic Party, and Bill doesn't like it.

"The former president remains a compelling and popular figure among many Democrats, and his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, is a rising star and possible candidate for president in 2008. But his enduring impact as president, already compromised by personal scandal, would be diminished if just four years after he left office Democrats moved away from the policies he prescribed."

"It's exceedingly important to a president's legacy that he live on in his party's history," says Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at the University of New Orleans and author of Tour of Duty, a new book on the Vietnam experiences of presidential contender John Kerry."

"In some conversations, Clinton has been "ticked off" by Dean's comments about him and "new Democrats," according to three former White House aides who didn't want to be identified. They say he has expressed exasperation and "befuddlement" about the wisdom of some of the stands Dean is taking and his dismissive description of Clinton's tenure as "damage control."