Bill Clinton may claim he’s ready to help out Barack Obama, but others are telling a different tale: “A senior Democrat who worked for Mr Clinton has revealed that he recently told friends Mr Obama could “kiss my ass” in return for his support.” Clinton and Obama are expected to talk early this week and hammer out a truce. No word on whether Obama will, in fact, kiss Clinton’s ass. [Telegraph]

Mario Testino, Elton John, Bill Clinton and other rich, famous people attended the 10th Annual White Tie and Tiara Ball, which raises money for Sir John’s eponymous AIDS foundation. For no good reason other than it’s Friday, here are some pictures of the host and the former president. Aren’t they just precious?!

[Images]

Senator Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton will soon return to the campaign trail.

Mr. Clinton, who is currently in Europe, told reporters through a spokesperson today that he’s “committed” to helping Barack Obama win the White House. Said Matt McKenna, “President Clinton is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next president of the United States.” Neither Clinton nor the Obama campaign would elaborate on what role Mr. Clinton will play in the general election.

Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, will appear with Obama on Friday in Unity, New Hampshire. And trust that the former presidential hopeful had a bit more … Continued…

David Mixner’s been in the political fray for over forty years, since Martin Luther King inspired the burgeoning activist’s social responsbility.

In the years that followed, Mixner fought battles great and small, worked inside campaigns, got arrested protesting unjust wars, joined the McGovern Commission - which rewrote the Democratic party’s rules - and would later rally gays around his old friend Bill Clinton, whom Mixner met while crusading against the Vietnam War. Mixner went on to join Clinton’s campaign and became the first openly gay man actively - and very publicly - involved in a presidential election.

Those were optimistic times, but Clinton would later break with Mixner by signing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which prohibits openly gay soldiers from serving in the military. Furious over Clinton’s apparent betrayal, Mixner came out against the discriminatory policy, a move which ended up getting him booted from the inner circle. Of course, Mixner’s always been more comfortable on the outside. In fact, he describes himself as “the best outsider on the inside.”

Now, as we charge toward November, Mixner’s hoping to bring the gays to another Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama. During a recent conference call with the Senator’s campaign, Mixner invoked the Clinton campaign, saying:

[This is] probably for the first time since the 1992 convention, we have an extraordinary opportunity to make history as a community. We have four months to do it, so we must gather and unite in our opposition to McCain and in an opportunity to really create something special in this country – not only for the country, but for ourselves and future generations of LGBT people.

Considering Mixner’s mixed career, editor Andrew Belonsky chose to start this interview on a decidedly untraditional note…
Continued…

The Democratic Party claims to have the gays’ backs. Why, then, are they not actively pushing against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Well, there are a few reasons, according to the Associated Press.

One, they don’t want rile the right-wing during this crucial election season. Two, they’re afraid of botching the job a la Bill Clinton. And, perhaps mostly importantly, the party’s not entirely sure they can get it done, but that doesn’t mean they’re not committed to the cause: The party’s reluctance to champion the cause also is a matter of political reality: Democrats lack a veto-proof majority in Congress.

”We know this is an issue that would not be met with a lot … Continued…

MSNBC’s political director Chuck Todd on Bill Clinton’s “bitterness” over Barack Obama: “I’m told that Bill Clinton is not over this yet. Hillary Clinton is over this, to a point. Bill Clinton believes that he was turned into a racist and believes the Obama campaign did it to him, [he] believes that the Obama campaign has tarnished his legacy in the ’90s. That “turn the page” stuff is a way of saying the ’90s were a failure, not a success. The bitterness in Clinton world is in that Harlem office where President Clinton resides.” [MSNBC]

The proverbial “they” say that married couples eventually look, dress and speak alike. And the Clintons are no exception.
Continued…

Martha Plimpton’s got staying power.

The 37-year old landed her first role at the age of eleven, no doubt because of her famous lineage - her parents are actors Shelley Plimpton and Keith Carradine. While other child stars would have fizzled long ago, the striking young Plimpton’s still going strong and about to open a new Broadway show, Top Girls.

Homo-journo Brandon Voss recently interviewed Plimpton for The Advocate, but some of the juicier bits of the conversation didn’t make the cut. Thus, Voss offered us some “exclusive excerpts,” which is just a sugar-coated way of saying “scraps.” No matter, we would eat Plimpton’s shit if she’d let us.

Okay, that’s (mostly) not true, but we love her enough to pass along these cuts, in which she chats about a “feminist backlash” to Hillary Clinton, feeling bad for Lindsay Lohan and her dykey Goonies character, Stef Steinbrenner.

Read all about it, after the jump…
Continued…

Does Hillary Clinton have a little secret, as in a penis? No, of course not, but that didn’t stop Indiana labor leader Paul Gipson from declaring the presidential candidate has the “testicular fortitude” to command the country: While defending Bill Clinton’s role in the passage of NAFTA, Paul Gipson, president of a steelworkers local, said that union members need to look forward, and support a leader who can work to amend and improve provisions in the trade agreement.

“I truly believe that that’s going to take an individual that has testicular fortitude,” he said. “That’s exactly right. That’s what we gotta have.”

Clinton, standing behind Gipson, smiled sheepishly before breaking into a nervous laugh. Gipson continued by slamming unnamed “Gucci-wearing, latte-drinking, self-centered, egotistical people that have damaged our lifestyle,” before endorsing and introducing Clinton. Clinton, of course, doesn’t drink lattes. She can’t even operate a gas station coffee maker! Such things are women’s work, after all.

Watch the testicular and coffee videos, after the jump…
Continued…

“Whether he was publicly comparing Barack Obama’s primary victory in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson’s campaigns in the eighties or privately, and apoplectically, complaining that Bill Richardson broke his word by endorsing Obama, every story has seemed to reinforce an image of [Bill] Clinton as a sort of ill-tempered coot driven a little mad by Obama’s success. ‘I think this campaign has enraged him,’ the adviser told me. ‘He doesn’t like Obama.’” [New Yorker]

Human Rights Campaign will announce its Senatorial endorsements on Monday. Hillary Clinton supporter and former Bill staffer Paul Begala will join HRC staffer at the announcement, but HRC promises it is not yet endorsing a presidential candidate. Some say they don’t need to… [PS: Why Paul Begala? Why not a gay person?] [US News]

Oh, Bill, Bill, Bill.

If you’re going to tell someone they’re misquoting you, make sure you’re right. Reporter Mike Memoli caught up with Mr. Clinton today in Pennsylvania and asked him about his remark that Obama played the “race card” after the Jesse Jackson debacle last January.

And, like Hillary’s Bosnia memory, Bill’s remains a bit hazy.
Continued…

The Clintons simply can’t get their stories straight!
Continued…

The ever-opinionated politico David Mixner talks jock this morning, chatting with OutSports about the strained relationship between the athletic and lavender worlds. Mixner, who’s a Bill Clinton chum, hypothesizes that endorsements prevent sports stars from embracing social progression: Outsports: Few athletes seem to embrace social activism. Why do you think that is?

David Mixner: The clear answer to this question is just one simple word - endorsements. I also believe that many professional athletes skipped college,where they might have gained access to more social activism, and went directly into a sports league. We’re going to indulge our cynicism and put more weight on the endorsement side.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign just released seven years worth of the candidate and Bill Clinton’s joint income tax returns. They’re sitting on over $100 million. President Clinton’s speech schedule brought in 51,855,599, while his book earned them $29,580,525. Hillary’s own tome came in at $10,457,083. [Hillary Clinton]