It's not true, as some conservative pundits lamented, that Bill Clinton won the presidential election for Barack Obama. But the Big Dog sure helped. Gone was the bitterness that followed his wife's 2008 primary loss, and a couple of off-message moments early in the campaign were soon forgotten. Clinton, 66, relished his rousing defense of the President at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, and he stepped in for Obama when Hurricane Sandy sidelined the incumbent in the final days of his re-election effort, campaigning himself hoarse. Add to that the growing influence of his private foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative, and his direct line to the Secretary of State, and Clinton looked more powerful in 2012 than in any year since he left office.