Bill Backs Hillary With Youtube Tribute

Hillary Clinton has deployed her prime asset in the race for the White House, enlisting Bill Clinton for a video testimonial to her leadership.

The five-minute video, which was distributed to leading donors and then posted on YouTube, was released at a moment when Mr Clinton is moving towards a more public role in his wife's presidential campaign.

"There are a lot of things about Hillary that you may not know -- things that occurred in her life before she became a United States senator," Mr Clinton says in the video.

He goes on to offer a resume of his wife's work on behalf of children and the poor, from her days as a young graduate of Yale law school through the periods when he was serving as governor of Arkansas and president.

Ms Clinton, he concludes, has what it takes to lead America. "As president she'll make you proud every day," he says.

The video ad from Mr Clinton marks a discernible shift in his role on his wife's campaign, with the former president stepping in to court major donors at a series of fundraisers.

He is scheduled to step up his public appearances in the autumn. The expanding role appears to be an attempt not to repeat the mistakes of the 2000 elections when Al Gore, nervous about being seen as a creature of the Clinton White House, turned down the outgoing president's offers to campaign.

Mr Gore ended up losing Arkansas, Mr Clinton's home state, as well as his native Tennessee, and ultimately the presidency to George Bush.

Mr Clinton is believed to have played a behind the scenes role in his wife's campaign from the start, advising on strategy, and even reviewing copies of major speeches. However, the campaign has so far been wary of too broad a role for the former president. The New York Times reported this week that Mr Clinton has been barred from taking part in staff conference calls or from speaking to his wife's senior aides directly.