Bill Clinton, George W. – Now best buds

Time magazine’s cover story this week is about the full-blown friendship that has developed between former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Clinton developed a bond with Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, several years ago. But the unlikely link between Clinton and Bush 43 seems to thrive on the prospect that Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton could face off for the presidency in the fall of 2016.

Nancy Gibbs, co-author of the Time piece (subscription only), described for Politico the atmosphere in the room during the magazine’s recent interview with the two ex-presidents:

"We were struck by the intense and unlikely relationship between these two men, these two dynasties -- and the extent to which, at the moment, their interests are strangely aligned.
"Their connection is visible in the body language, the mutual mockery of each other's set pieces and shticks, the way they tease and praise and even protect each other in the course of our conversation."

Here’s a couple of highlights:

Clinton, on the wide reach – and snarky tone -- of social media in a campaign season:
“Look, this is highly complicated. People don’t like negative, divisive environments. But they frequently reward them in elections.”
“It’s great that you can get 100 media outlets, but you have to devour each other and it puts even more pressure on people like you (Gibbs and co-author Michael Duffy) to turn us all into two-dimensional cartoons.”

Bush, on the large GOP field and the Bush name:

“I can’t tell you who is going to win, but I can tell you what’s going to happen. There’s kind of a general pattern. And there will be flash in the pans, there will be this crisis, there will be the funding thing. There will be all these things that happen, but eventually the person who can best lead their party will be nominated.”
“… What difference does it make if the order is Bush/Clinton/Bush/Obama/Clinton or it is Bush/Clinton/Bush/Obama/Bush?”