'It was probably the right decision,' says former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a longtime Clinton ally. Throughout most, if not all, of Hillary-land, there was relief. The woman who somehow lost in 2016 'to an orange puffer clown fish,' as New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd put it, was, like her husband, done. If there was ever any hope that Hillary might go for round two against Trump, defending Bill's conduct with Lewinsky ended it. A Gallup Poll in the fall of 2018 had her at 36 percent. Public polling or approval ratings didn't provide much encouragement. That resentment was a subject Bill didn't raise, although he was aware of it from his endless soundings of his national network of contacts in the party. In the first year or so after she lost to Trump, Hillary was somewhat insulated from the anger a lot of Democratic leaders felt toward her. Either on the phone or at the occasional conclave at the couple's home in Chappaqua, New York, Hillary would bat around the idea with close aides, including former chief of staff Cheryl Mills, 2008 presidential campaign manager Maggie Williams and aide-de-camp Philippe Reines. 'Did they want revenge? Of course they did,' says one former senior adviser. They felt that, even with a relatively good economy, he was very vulnerable.' And a lot of Democrats still wanted to make history by electing a woman, and both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders (whose supporters would have been infuriated by another Clinton run) obviously didn't fit that bill. To both of them, 'Trump had been predictably awful. She was being urged on by Bill, according to two sources close to them, who was convinced she would beat Donald Trump in a rematch. Until that point, it had been an open secret in Clinton world that Hillary was at least considering another presidential run, though just how seriously is a matter of dispute. Just 80,000 votes in three traditionally Democratic states deprived them of the restoration: a return to the White House-with Hillary now 'the Big Dog'-and a recapture of the leadership of their party. For the Clintons, this is the year the might-have-beens become especially painful. This is a tough time for them.'ДЇor reasons both political and personal, Bill and Hillary, the most powerful couple in the modern era of American politics, stand on the sidelines as one of the most important election cycles for Democrats unfolds.

And the sadness? 'He realizes, politically, he's in exile, and to some extent Hillary is too. 'This guy's political brain is still sharp-among the sharpest in the party-and he worries that may be frittering away the chance it has to beat Trump next year.' A lot of the contenders seemed to be scrambling to the left to satisfy the progressive wing of the party 'and the angry Twitter-verse,' as Bill's dinner companion puts it. The 2020 race for the White House was underway, and not many of the ever-expanding field of Democratic contenders had phoned him or come calling to discuss what it is like to run a presidential campaign. He was, the friend says, a 'bit sad, and more than a bit angry.' He is 72 now, 15 years on from open-heart surgery and the complications that arose from it. Bill, the friend says, looked thinner and more tired than he had in some time. One evening earlier this year, an old friend and adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton sat down with the former president for dinner at a quiet Manhattan restaurant.

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