Do former presidents have a responsibility to stay on message?
Here's Bill Clinton, talking about Mitt Romney on CNN last night.
"I think he had a good business career.... there's no question that in terms of getting up and going to the office, and basically part of the essential functions of office, a man who's been governor and had a sterling business career cross the qualification threshold."
As for private equity:
"I don't think we ought to get in a position where we say this is bad work. This is good work."
Clinton then claimed that the real issue wasn't Romney's experience but his political promises, and that they should be juxtapositioned against Barack Obama's.
SO... that was quite the riff, but this is just be the public articulation of a point he's privately made -- that Obama should focus on Romney's proposals; not his personal history.
Bonus thought: Who'll be the first person to theorize that Clinton is doing this to, in some way, improve the prospects of Hillary 2016?