In case you were worrying about the prospect of Bill Clinton wandering around the West Wing in his pajamas during a potential Hillary presidency and whether or not he would have his fingers back in the gears of government, wonder no more. He will. In fact, since Bill’s approval numbers are so much higher than his wife’s, she seems to be trying to tap into some of that Bubba magic by assuring voters that the old Ball and Chain will be in charge of revitalizing the economy. (The Hill)

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is beginning to hint at what role her husband, former President Bill Clinton, could have in her administration if elected president.

At a campaign stop in Fort Mitchell, Ky., Clinton said her husband would be “in charge of reitalizing the economy.”

Clinton often boasts about her husbands economic record on the campaign trail, leaning heavily on his record of raising wages and creating jobs.

“The economy does better when you have a Democrat in the White House,” Clinton said at the Oct. 13 debate.

Clinton said something similar at a campaign event in early May, saying she would bring him out of retirement to create jobs.

This isn’t so much a story about the future of Bill Clinton as a troubling reminder of Hillary Clinton’s past and her “qualifications” for the presidency which are so frequently cited. It’s a given that presidential spouses have the ear of the President, particularly when they are the last person the Oval Office occupant talks to before they close their eyes at night. Anyone who has been married will tell you that your spouse is often one of the key people you bounce ideas off and you take their opinions seriously. But there’s a fine line which shouldn’t be crossed when the married couple in question is residing in the White House.

Rather than acting as an intimate advisor or personal sounding board, First Lady Hillary Clinton had her hooks into the workings of the government in an unprecedented way. Most of our First Ladies who have had pet causes they promoted and spoke about passionately. Laura Bush cared deeply about early childhood education and spoke frequently about her Ready to Read, Ready to Learn goals. The current First Lady has promoted healthy eating and exercise for children, and while she’s crowded the line a bit in terms of the FDA, she mostly keeps to an advocacy roll. That wasn’t the case with Hillary Clinton. She dove into the legislative process and attempted to craft new health care reform work in Congress. That should have been unthinkable because there are no official legislative duties for the spouse of the President. It’s not an office. There is no job to be done because the voters have no recourse to remove you if they don’t approve of the “job” you are doing.

While Bill Clinton obviously has a vastly more fleshed out resume for such work than his wife, his time in public office is done. He’s not running for any office and is not eligible for the one his wife is seeking. I’m sure that Hillary Clinton will blow this off as a figure of speech, but I have zero doubt that there’s some truth behind her words. We don’t need Bill Clinton running the government again and his wife’s willingness to set up an unaccountable “office” for him in the running of the nation is yet another reason she should not be allowed anywhere near 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.