It's All Slick Willie's Fault

Hillary's campaign staffer are blaming Hillary's meddling husband for her decline in the polls.

SUPPORTERS of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy are privately blam ing aggressive campaigning by Bill Clin ton for her recent decline in Iowa's pre-caucus polls.

In their opinion, the former president's strong defense of his wife pushes the contest for the Democratic nomination toward what Hillary Clinton wanted to avoid: a referendum on the Clinton administration, making her a symbol of the past rather than an agent of change.

A footnote: Democrats close to Bill Clinton blame Mark Penn, Sen. Clinton's chief strategist, for her decline. They grumble that Penn, a pollster, relies too much on polls.