That Bill Clinton had achieved a privileged in place in the hearts of Democrats and the American people overall seems undeniable. Even in the wake of his Lewinsky imbroglio and ensuing impeachment, Clinton enjoyed stratospheric approval ratings. Two-thirds of Americans approved of Clinton's job performance as he left the Oval Office in 2001. Even years later, Americans have fond memories of the Clinton presidency, with 71% in a March 2007 USA Today poll and 66% in a September 2007 ABC News/Washington survey approving of his time in office. (With the American economy teetering on the edge of recession, nostalgia for the years of the Clinton boom will likely only increase.)

Clinton's work since leaving the White House has earned him praise as well. The Clinton Foundation is at the forefront of global health and education initiatives, especially when it comes to battling AIDS in Africa. Clinton's tag-team effort with President George H.W. Bush on tsunami and Katrina relief constituted one of the few truly nonpartisan campaigns in recent memory.

But on the campaign trail these last few weeks, Bill Clinton is jeopardizing it all. Understandably desperate to help his wife's faltering campaign after its Iowa defeat, Clinton has abandoned his lofty perch in the presidential fraternity to get down and dirty in the mud.

As Candy Crowley described for CNN, Hillary Clinton is increasingly deploying the former President to play "good cop/bad cop" in her battle against Barack Obama. In December he said that voters supporting Mr. Obama were willing to "roll the dice" on the presidency. Just before the New Hampshire vote, a frustrated Clinton ridiculed Obama's record on Iraq, claiming "Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen." And on Wednesday, an angry and defensive Bill Clinton accused a reporter of "an accusatory tone" regarding the lawsuit by a Nevada teacher's union to block the state's at-large caucus precincts. Clinton disavowed that move, widely seen as being instigated by Clinton allies to hamper the vote of Las Vegas casino workers whose union endorsed Obama last week. As CNN reported:

"Get on your television station and say, 'I don't care about the home mortgage crisis; all I care about is making sure that some voters have it easier than others...and when they do vote...their vote should count five times as much as others," Clinton said in a raised voice.

"If you want to make that your position, get on the television and take it. Don't be accusatory with me. I had nothing to do with this lawsuit," he said.

As both the Washington Post and New York Times detail, Bill Clinton appears truly frustrated with what he sees as an unfair media inquisition of his wife. His former adviser David Gergen noted that "bubbling just below the surface is a deep resentment on his part against the press about the way he feels she is portrayed against Barack." The Reverend Carolyn Staley, a longtime friend from Arkansas, concurred that Bill believes Barack is getting a free ride:

"What he perceives is a lack of fairness -- equal scrutiny, equal accountability. While their lives have been an open book for all these years they've been in public service, other candidates have not been subject to that sort of scrutiny."

That is almost certainly true. And the results in New Hampshire suggest that tactically at least, Bill Clinton was right to urge his wife's campaign to go on the attack against Barack Obama last fall before the Illinois Senator built up momentum in Iowa.

His own role in those efforts appears to be effective. (Mickey Kantor, Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign chairman, said his former boss is an obvious asset to Senator Clinton, "I start laughing every time I hear it -- 'Is it positive or negative?'") But at what cost to himself and legacy? President Clinton should of course be expected to actively support Hillary's election. But his repeated defenses of his own past record and bludgeoning of Barack Obama on the campaign trail tarnish his unique position in the Democratic pantheon.

At the end of the day, David Gergen said of Bill Clinton, "He is a bit like Mount Vesuvius: he'll just erupt, but then it's over, because the good thing about his temper is that he doesn't bear grudges."

Sadly, many of his admirers might.

UPDATE: The diminution of Bill Clinton continues on the campaign trail. As the Politico noted Saturday, Bill Clinton claimed in Nevada that he personally witnessed voter suppression by the Culinary Workers' union and decried ads supposedly callling on Republicans to caucus for Obama as payback to Hillary. Those accusations follow Bill Clinton's recent characterization of Barack Obama, "enough of all this hot air talking." Meanwhile, Newsweek reports that Ted Kennedy, Rahm Emanuel and other leading Democrats told Bill Clinton to "pipe down."