IS THERE MORE TO THIS THAN WE MIGHT THINK? – AT 9:14 P.M. ET:  Bill Clinton appeared on a closed-to-the-press panel with George W. Bush, and Clinton's comments were startling, especially as his wife serves in the current administration.  From The Politico:

Former President Bill Clinton said Friday that delays in offshore oil and gas drilling permits are “ridiculous” at a time when the economy is still rebuilding, according to attendees at the IHS CERAWeek conference.

Clinton spoke on a panel with former President George W. Bush that was closed to the media. Video of their moderated talk with IHS CERA Chairman Daniel Yergin was also prohibited.

But according to multiple people in the room, Clinton, surprisingly, agreed with Bush on many oil and gas issues, including criticism of delays in permitting offshore since last year’s Gulf of Mexico spill.

“Bush said all the things you’d expect him to say” on oil and gas issues, said Jim Noe, senior vice president at Hercules Offshore and executive director of the pro-drilling Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition. But Clinton added, “You’d be surprised to know that I agree with all that,” according to Noe and others in the room.

COMMENT:  Clinton knew that even if this meeting was closed to the media, his comments would leak out.  The bluntness of those remarks is startling. 

Is Clinton perhaps signaling that he, and, by extension, his wife, are starting to distance themselves from some of Obama's policies?  I've wondered how long Hillary Clinton would put up with Obama's amateurism in foreign relations.  Does she really believe some of the stuff she's been spouting, especially about how America wants others to lead in the Libya crisis?

We assume Obama is running in 2012.  But if the economy tanks again, and his numbers start to slip, anything can happen.  Waiting in the wings is Hillary.  Hillary is always waiting in the wings.

I don't want to read too much into Bill Clinton's remarks, but that kind of public split with Obama policies is something to be examined.  I'd love to be listening in on his phone calls to the secretary of state's private line.

March 11, 2011