CNN: Clinton campaign advisers: Bill Clinton 'needs to stop'

Clinton campaign advisers: Bill Clinton 'needs to stop'

Posted: 07:08 PM ET
Some Clinton backers aren't happy with the former president's aggressive campaigning.

(CNN) – Democratic sources supportive of and regularly in touch with the Clinton campaign describe what one calls "a huge wave" of sentiment that Bill Clinton "needs to stop."

The sources — who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject — act as either unpaid advisers or surrogates for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Interviewed separately, they agreed that the former president's recent headline-generating statements "hurt more than helped" his wife's South Carolina campaign.

His comments criticized as racially insensitive, the verbal sparring with Barack Obama, and his "scolding" of the media are "distractions," say these Clinton supporters. Hillary Clinton, says one, "needs to take and be the lead."

The former president has long been renowned for his adept political skills. But he is "missing a beat" and has "become tone deaf" about the dynamic he has brought to his wife's campaign, according to one source who has known both Clintons for decades.

"Something has happened," says the source. "He just wants to help her too much, or maybe protect his own legacy too much."

Another source, who worked in the Clinton administration, called it "unbelievable" that the former president linked Barack Obama's South Carolina victory to Rev. Jesse Jackson's wins in 1984 and 1988 in the state.

more