Vis-A-Vis: Two Former First Ladies, New Best Friends?

Bernadette Chirac--whose husband Jacque became the most anti-American and unpopular president in French history--- has just endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.

Perhaps Madame Chirac is not enjoying her time out of the limelight and needs something more to do---a cause celebre---that will garner her a little extra publicity these days, now that Jacque is out of a job in France as president for 12 years, mayor of Paris, friend and ally of Saddam Hussein, advocate of nuclear development in Iran, friend of dictators in Africa and buddy of Vladimir Putin in Russia?

What could be better than to turn her sights from the Continent westward to the United States and next year's presidential election? And a much needed endorsement of Hillary.

The former first lady of France doesn't want to stop with just an endorsement of our former first lady. No sir. Bernadette has an even loftier idea in mind as the story goes:

She (Mrs. Chirac) even expressed interest in attending the Democratic convention in Denver in August. "And if I can be of any use to her somewhere in the campaign, I'm available. I'd like to go with her and I'm going to suggest it to her......From the first look, the first words, Hillary Clinton is a friendly, smiling person who never lets herself be caught out, " Chirac said.

Denver in August. That's pretty tempting for sure. Hot, polluted, dusty and crowded. And now, the French will arrive.

With an endorsement like that, is it any wonder, that Rudy and even Fred could catch up with her in the polls? I hope Hillary political opponents will make some hay out of this, especially since Mrs. Chirac's husband was the least popular president of France in history.

Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post wrote earlier this year of Jacque Chirac's policies, especially those towards the United States:

"As I say, it's an important legacy: one of consistent scorn for the Anglo-American world in general and the English language in particular; of suspicion of Central Europe and profound disinterest in the wave of democratic transformation that swept the world in the 1980s and 1990s; of preference for the Arab and African dictators who had been, and remained, clients of France. In his later years, Chirac constantly searched, in almost all international conflicts, for novel ways of opposing the United States. All along, he did his best to protect France from the rapidly changing global economy."

Read Applebaum's full column on Mr. Chirac's legacy in France.

And there's more here.

Above, Clintons and Chiracs in 1999. Yearning for the good ole days?

Is Hillary running scared now in Iowa and preparing for a letdown?