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Chelsea Shows Best of Both Clintons

On the stump for mom, she looks like a political natural

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 1, 2008 6:23 PM CST

(Newser) – Chelsea Clinton has come into her own on the campaign trail, “self-assured, soothing … at once affable and urbane,” even “the ideal amalgam of her parents’ political talents,” glows Lloyd Grove in a New York profile. Bill and Hillary have adroitly managed their daughter's public persona, obsessively keeping the press away from her—even making comedians sorry for Chelsea jokes—but she is now orchestrating her own political coming-out, Grove says.

And in the last few weeks she's been her mother's strongest surrogate, appearing at nearly 40 campuses in two dozen states. She was the strong link during the Lewinsky years, and an independent spirit when she graduated from college. And after decades of public silence, Chelsea’s proved herself a true political talent—and maybe the future of Clinton electoral politics.

[Images (4)]

[Videos (1)]

Democratic presidential hope Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., right, and her daughter Chelsea Clinton pause for a moment following the debate at the Austin Democratic Debate at the Recreational Sports... (Associated Press)

Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, greets Chelsea Clinton before a Democratic presidential debate Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008, in Cleveland, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato) (Associated Press)

Daughter of Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Chelsea Clinton, sits in the audience at a Democratic presidential debate in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008. (AP... (Associated Press)

Bill and Chelsea Clinton at the Taj Mahal (Getty Images)

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Chelsea Shows Best of Both Clintons