DALE McFEATTERS All Clinton, all the time as ex-leader starts tour

Brace yourself for the Bill Clinton Summer Reunion Tour. Our irrepressible former president is reuniting with the spotlight. Maybe not all has been forgotten, but most, it seems, has been forgiven.
At the White House unveiling of the Clinton's official portraits this week, President Bush praised Clinton for his deep and far-ranging knowledge, great compassion and forward-looking spirit. He called Sen. Hillary Clinton "an extraordinary person." This is not how we're used to Republicans talking.
The tour really gets started with the rollout of Clinton's autobiography, "My Life," almost 1,000 pages, and even at that the publisher had to wrestle the manuscript away from the author.
Making the rounds
Sunday night, he's on CBS for all 60 of its "60 Minutes." Monday's Time magazine publishes a long interview. Tuesday he's on "Oprah" for an hour and then Wednesday he rounds out the networks by appearing on the NBC and ABC morning shows. Did we mention the big kickoff gala at New York's Metropolitan Museum?
Then Clinton departs on the first leg of an extended book tour.
In the 2000 campaign, Vice President Al Gore, the party's presidential candidate, treated his old boss as if he was radioactive. As far as the Democrats go, that's over and done with, as, it appears, is Al Gore.
Sen. John Kerry wants Clinton to campaign for him "as much as he can." Not a problem, John. The former president plans on selling both his book and Kerry. His publisher says Clinton is trying to schedule one book signing a day, and if he even approaches Hillary Clinton's 40-city book tour, that will take him right up to the November election.
Crowds
Federal election officials say that as long as Clinton is hawking his book he can say what he wants about Kerry and Bush without running afoul of the campaign finance laws. These book signings will draw crowds; Clinton has far more invitations than he can fulfill. He canceled a book signing in Boston because it might outshine the Democratic convention.
Perhaps not coincidentally many of the former president's book signings are likely to be in areas where Kerry needs help. The Bill Clinton Summer Reunion Tour: Coming soon to a battleground state near you.