Bill Clinton hits the campaign trail for Hillary

Des Moines, Iowa, July 3: Former President Bill Clinton made his campaign-trail debut for wife Hillary Clinton, praising her ability and toughness and saying he would do all he could to help her win the White House.

''I would be here tonight, if she asked me, if we weren't married,'' he told an enthusiastic crowd of about 3,000 in Iowa, the state that kicks off the 2008 presidential race in less than seven months.

''She is by a long stretch the best qualified nonincumbent I have ever had a chance to vote for for president,'' he said yesterday, noting 2008 would be his 40th year as a voter.

The appearance at a rally on the Iowa state fairgrounds was the public campaign unveiling for the political power couple.

Bill Clinton had limited his previous campaign help to behind-the-scenes advice and joint appearances at closed fund-raising events.

He said her community organizing and anti-poverty and civil rights work before they were married, and her efforts to build schools and improve education in Arkansas when he was governor there, were signs of her ability and commitment.

He also mentioned her failed initiative as first lady on health care. ''I think that's a good thing, not a bad thing,'' he said.

After her husband's effusive introduction, Hillary Clinton cracked a joke. ''If I was as smart as Bill seems to suggest I am, I would say nothing,'' she said.

While the New York senator has led the Democratic presidential field in national opinion polls all year, she trails rival John Edwards in Iowa polls.

She also was rocked on Sunday by news that top rival Barack Obama had raised more than 30 million dollars in the second quarter for the Democratic primary battle -- about 10 million dollars more than Clinton expects to report.

The Iowa Republican Party issued a statement saying Bill Clinton's appearance in the state was a sign Hillary Clinton was ''officially desperate.'' Her supporters had a different view.

''I think it's fantastic,'' said Barb Light of Grimes, Iowa.

''She supported him all those years and now he's supporting her.'' The couple entered the crowd through a corridor of straw bales and stood together during an introduction and endorsement of Hillary Clinton by Ruth Harkin, wife of Democratic Iowa Sen.

Tom Harkin.

Bill Clinton occasionally put his hands on his wife's shoulders as they listened, then sat on a stool as his wife spoke.

The Clintons plan five more joint appearances across northern and eastern Iowa in the next two days, including marching in a July fourth holiday parade.

During her speech, Hillary Clinton condemned President George W Bush's decision to spare former White House aide Lewis Libby from prison and said it was evidence the Bush administration had ''elevated cronyism over the rule of law.'' Both Clintons noted Bill never competed in the Iowa caucuses during his two campaigns for the presidency. Sen. Tom Harkin was a candidate in the first race in 1992 and other Democrats left the state to him. In 1996, Clinton was unopposed for the nomination.

Hillary Clinton said she was excited to be the first member of her family to take part in Iowa's kickoff caucuses.

''I'm thrilled to finally find something in politics that I'm doing that my husband didn't do,'' she said.

REUTERS GL MIR KP0916>