B.J. Billy gives up hope for Iowa

NEW YORK In a surprisingly frank interview with Charlie Rose on his PBS show late Friday night, former President Bill Clinton declared that his wife was not only far better prepared to be president than her chief rival Sen. Barack Obama -- "it's not even close" -- but that voters who disagreed would be taking a "risk" if they picked the latter.

Repeatedly dismissive of Obama -- which could come back to haunt the Clinton campaign -- the former president at one point said that voters were, of course, free to pick someone with little experience, even, he said, "a television commentator" who would have just "one year less" experience in national office than Obama. He had earlier pointed out that Obama had started to run for president just one year into his first term in the U.S. Senate.

Clinton also said, surprisingly, with a laugh, "It would be a miracle if Hillary wins in Iowa, and I'm not just low-balling you." He said John Edwards might well win -- which would certainly be preferable, from the Clintons' perspective, to an Obama win.

He praised Obama's intelligence and "sensational political skills" but repeatedly suggested that, unlike his wife and some of the other candidates, he might not be ready for the job. Asked directly about that, Clinton refused to state it bluntly, but did point out that when he was elected president in 1992 at about the same age as Obama, he was the "senior governor" in the U.S. and had worked for years on international development issues. Viewers could draw their own conclusions.

Later he said that his friends in the Republican party had indicated that they felt his wife would be the strongest candidate, partly because she had already been "vetted" -- another subtle slap at Obama.

Also: He said the most important thing to judge was who would be "the best agent for change" not merely a "symbol for change....symbol is not as important as substance."

One more dig at Obama? He said that Edwards had first run for president after just a few years in the Senate, but then completed his term and went out and conducted a serious study of poverty.

Yes, The Breck Girl did a "serious" study of poverty. He looked out the window of his limousine at it when being driven to the airport and he looked down on it from his private jet while being flown to $10,000 per plate political dinners.

What is interesting here is that Clinton is conceding Iowa. From an operation that has more closely resembled a coronation than a campaign this is major. Look for them to begin downplaying New Hampshire as well over the next couple of weeks.