Team Clinton: Shut Up, Bubba

Bill Clinton's recent barrage of off-message pronouncements—that Mitt Romney did good work at Bain and that George Bush's tax cuts should be extended—were so destructive to President Obama that even Clinton's own aides pushed him to make an embarrassing what-I-meant-to-say clarification, reports Politico. “He’s 65 years old,” says one Clinton adviser, calling the former president a step off his political game.

Clinton "does not believe the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans should be extended again," noted his office in a statement, saying that Clinton's original comment was meant to refer to the inability of any budget agreement being reached before the election. “I think the only thing people will remember about President Clinton’s remarks is that he didn’t demonize Gov. Romney," suggested Ed Rendell, a Clinton ally. "And I think that'll put him in a much stronger position in October, when it counts, to deliver a message about why Barack Obama should be reelected and Mitt Romney's prescription for the economy is not the right one." Click for Slate's take on whether Clinton has lost his touch. (More Bill Clinton stories.)