I don’t often sympathize with Bill Clinton, but after reading the Vanity Fair piece by Mr. Purdum, and seeing the author’s weak defense on CNN, the ex-president is absolutely right. It is glorified gossip with more anonymous sources and cheap titillation—now and then dressed up with a pseudo-medical theory about a supposed angry depression/change of character brought on by bypass surgery. That the author says the piece is not character assassination by innuendo means nothing. There is a conflict of interest via the insider status of his wife, for which a one-line admission hardly suffices. If the ex-president has done things that reflect poorly on his status as a senior statesman, then let the author document dubious honoraria or fund-raising for his library–supported by named sources and evidence. As it is, the article is just a rehashed David Brock-like hit piece, with a little more pretension about being serious journalism.

I don’t often sympathize with Hillary Clinton, but after watching her the last three months on the campaign trail, I am impressed with her doggedness, stamina, and calm in the face of serial caricature from everything about her pant-suits, to facials, to shrill voice. That is, despite her fibs or misstatements, or resort to playing the gender card, she took an amazing amount of abuse and never weakened. In some sense her failed campaign for her was well worth it, since it has refashioned her in the eyes of the public from an Ivy-league elitist and partisan into someone more down to earth and empathetic to the working classes.

Her bizarre offer to serve as VP, contrary to popular opinion, was a brilliant (if Byzantine) political move: she knows that she has earned the slot but that the Obamas don’t want her “dream ticket”; so now the onus is on them if they reject her “generous” and most logical offer, and only blame will follow if the Democrats stumble in the fall–with consequences for 2012.

Win/win for her: she swallows her pride and offers unity to win–and he looks sort of weak in following her prompt; if she is rejected, Obama looks petulant–and sort of weak.