“To address Palin, you need a prominent tough woman,” said another former aide. “I can’t think of any others who really work and who could really zing her with a smile on her face and look really good doing it.”

“Either it says that they don’t think they need him or that they don’t want him or some combination of the two,” said a Democratic operative close to the Clintons, referring to the former president. “I think they want to do it without him—without both of them. A lot of this is psychological.”