It has never been entirely clear what the source of the Clinton magic was, but it isn't very lively right now. There is no denying Bill Clinton's remarkable achievement, as the governor of a relatively small state, in putting together a winning campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1992 and then defeating a competent incumbent president, whose popularity had peaked at 88 percent 18 months before the election, after the almost bloodless eviction of Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.