Is President Clinton gambling with his legacy in the hopes of a big win for Hillary's campaign?

After weeks of complaining publicly about Barack Obama’s record, the news media’s coverage of the Democratic presidential race, or both, Mr. Clinton on Wednesday ripped into a television reporter who had asked him about a Nevada lawsuit concerning participation in the state’s caucuses this Saturday. Mr. Clinton believed the question had seemed sympathetic to Mr. Obama’s stakes in the suit, Clinton campaign officials said.

Mr. Clinton’s temper has been an issue for him as long as he has been in public life. But it has played an unusual role during the current campaign, his face turning red in public nearly every week, often making headlines as he defends his wife and injects himself, whether or not intentionally, into her race in sometimes distracting ways.

Some Clinton advisers say the campaign is trying to rein him in somewhat, so that his outbursts become less of a factor to reporters, but his flashes of anger only seem to be growing. Last week, for instance, a clearly agitated Mr. Clinton told Dartmouth students that it was a “fairy tale” for Mr. Obama to contend that he had been consistently against the war in Iraq. And in December he said that voters supporting Mr. Obama were willing to “roll the dice” on the presidency.

President Clinton was sitting pretty before the Hillary campaign began. He headed the Clinton Foundation that was doing great humanitarian work around the world, he was clearly the most popular American politician in the eyes of the rest of the world, his peccadillo's while in office were rarely being addressed any more, and he was the star of the Democratic party.

But today the Monica Lewinsky story is all over the cable news outlets, Bill has made a number of public gaffes in defense of his wife, he has often been shown to be out of step with his wife's message, and his unwavering support for one candidate in 2008 has diminished his stature among many other Democrats who are supporting a different candidate. Bill's political opinions, once considered to carry a great deal of weight, are rendered meaningless because of his blind support for Hillary. Bill Clinton the beloved ex-President has been reduced to Bill Clinton the political hack.

It is almost painful to watch.