Bubba is back, but for how long?

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Bill Clinton clashes with Black Lives Matters protesters

Former deputy staff secretary to Clinton sounds off about the former president's legacy

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Buzz Cuts:
• Bubba is back, but for how long?
• Cruz shutting out Trump in Colorado delegate hunt
• Power Play: Have Republicans figured out strategic voting?
• Let Trump be Trump
• You’re the wurst

BUBBA IS BACK, BUT FOR HOW LONG?
Is Bill Clinton an asset or liability to his wife’s presidential campaign?

In the aftermath of her 2008 defeat, many in Democratic circles pinned the blame on the former president for both his outbursts in public and the strategic blunders from his advisors who steered Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

After his contentious showdown with Black Lives Matter activists Thursday in Philadelphia, the same chorus is rising on the left again.

But then there’s the other side. Not only did the former president make his wife’s candidacy possible, but he can be a better communicator than perhaps any politician in the business today – at least when he’s on his game, something he has rarely been this cycle.

There have been some real low spots for Bill, including his dazed expression standing behind his wife during a concession speech in New Hampshire or several pretty potent gaffes including a claim at a Memphis campaign rally that: “We are all mixed-race people.”

Running through it all is the sense that the gaunt-looking, reedy-voiced 69-year-old has simply lost his mojo.

Despite hyperventilation on the left for his sin of daring to contradict Black Lives Matter activists, it was a bravura performance – Bubba at his best. While the former president has a penchant for losing his temper in such situations, he kept his cool and controlled the moment.

“I don't know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped up on crack and sent them out on the street to murder other African-American children,” Clinton told the protesters in defense of the tougher drug laws of his era,“Maybe you thought they were good citizens — she didn't.”

“You are defending the people who killed the lives you say matter,” he added. “Tell the truth!”

It was powerful and more than a little reminiscent of his 1992 speech condemning rapper Sister Souljah and others for violent lyrics. And for Hillary and her campaign, it was something that needed to be said.

If she accepts the premise that the laws she and her husband supported were inherently racist in order to appease activists what would she have left to say to the broader universe of black voters on whom she depends both now and in the general election?

And speaking of the general election, being tough on crime is a plus, not a minus with voters in all demographic categories.

Whether Bill is back or this was just a flash of the old brilliance, it was the kind of performance that might make up for the damage he’s done elsewhere.

Obama faces Mr. Sunday - President Obama sits down for his first-ever exclusive interview as president with “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace” at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Check local listings for broadcast times in your area.

#mediabuzz - Host Howard Kurtz analyzes the week’s media coverage in wake of the Wisconsin primary. Watch Sunday at 11 a.m. ET, with a second airing at 5 p.m.

Power Play: Will Bernie’s win matter? - Bernie Sanders won big in Wisconsin. Will Sanders’ margin of victory have Hillary Clinton hovering over the panic button? Democratic strategist Mark Alderman and Republican counterpart Doug Heye weigh the impact on the rest of the race. WATCH HERE.

One down, 711 to go! - Wisconsin Public Radio: “Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has picked up his first Wisconsin superdelegate: state Rep. David Bowen of Milwaukee. ‘It was hard to ignore the huge numbers of Democrats in our state that have decided and that are invested into the Bernie Sanders platform,’ Bowen said on Thursday…Bowen said he hopes his pledge for the Vermont senator shows Sanders supporters in Wisconsin that their voice is being heard.”

[Dem delegate count: Clinton 1749; Sanders 1061 (2,383 needed to win)]

WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE…
Paris Review: “Time to ask again—what were the suburbs? Two new books, Houses for a New World and Detached America, look back at the era of Levittown and the postwar suburban housing boom, which we’re struggling to make sense of—as Martin Filler writes, “Both new books remind us of a time when a popular American middle-class weekend pastime was to pile the kids and in-laws into the family car and drive around looking at model houses, whether or not you were actively shopping for a new place. …  A revealing example of that appeal to women can be found in a 1955–1957 sales brochure for Cinderella Estates, a new Anaheim, California, subdivision not far from the recently completed Disneyland. This booklet depicts a princess-like figure and regal coach next to a rendering of a sprawling ranch-style house and the words ‘your every wish for a home … come gloriously true.’”

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POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages
National GOP nomination: Trump 39.9 percent; Cruz 32.9 percent; Kasich 20.9 percent
National Dem nomination: Clinton 49.1 percent; Sanders 44.3 percent
General Election: Clinton vs. Trump: Clinton +10.5 points
Generic Congressional Vote: Republicans +0.5

CRUZ SHUTS OUT TRUMP IN COLORADO DELEGATE HUNT
Denver Post: “Ted Cruz added to his lead in Colorado, winning three more national delegates Thursday to boost his total to nine. The Texas senator found deep support at the 7th Congressional District convention in Arvada among pledged and unpledged delegates, much like he did Saturday when he swept all six slots award at two conventions…Donald Trump supporters organized a slate of three candidates for the 7th District convention; the first overt signs of organization from the campaign in Colorado; but still struck out.”

[The LAT lays out how California might be more favorable to Ted Cruz than Donald Trump.]

Power Play: Have Republicans figured out strategic voting? - Despite all the talk of his having a bad week, Donald Trump did about as well in Wisconsin as he has in states he’s won. Political strategists Doug Heye and Mark Alderman join Chris Stirewalt to discuss what changed and what the loss may portend. WATCH HERE.

Trump veterans’ charities still waiting for money - Fox News: “More than two months after Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump claimed to have raised $6 million for veterans’ charities at a fundraiser held on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, most of the organizations targeted to receive the money have gotten less than half of that amount… Fox Business Network first reported in late February that only a fraction of the pledged donations had made their way to the veterans groups.”

Trump cancels in California, clears schedule - WaPo: “Donald Trump has cleared his public schedule for the next few days, canceling a Friday press conference in California and skipping the Colorado GOP State Convention on Saturday. A campaign spokeswoman told some media outlets that Trump plans to instead focus on New York, his home state that will host a GOP primary on April 19.”

Let Trump be Trump - Weekly Standard’s Steve Hayes points out why a Trump shift towards policy isn’t the correct course of action for the Republican frontrunner: “A campaign that shifts to policy will invite focus on the many areas where Trump has supported policies anathema to GOP primary voters and will allow his opponents to highlight his dramatic reversals on issues that, for many conservatives, are matters of conscience or conviction. But more problematic for Trump is the fact that on most matters of policy, he has no idea what he's talking about.”

[GOP delegate count: Trump 743; Cruz 517; Kasich 143 (1,237 needed to win)]

YOU’RE THE WURST
Sydney Morning Herald: “Police in Germany were called to an annual shareholder meeting at Mercedes to defuse a fight over sausages ….It appears trouble started when a woman shareholder noticed a man was helping himself to rather more sausages than she felt was reasonable. The man was allegedly wrapping the sausages up to take home, and when the woman told him to stop the disagreement quickly escalated into a fracas. [Manfred Bischoff, the chairman of the Daimler board] claimed the incident happened because the buffet featured Saitenwürschtle sausages, a Swabian speciality from Mercedes' home in southern Germany, which are not generally available in Berlin. … The claim the man was trying to take the sausages home with him led to jokes about the alleged stinginess of Swabians: Berliners traditionally regard their wealthier southern cousins as penny-pinching. … Daimler served 12,500 sausages to its 5500 shareholders, according to a company spokesman.”

AND NOW A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“…Cruz is really extremely defensive. He doesn’t even have a chance to talk about his issues in New York. He’s got to defend the New York values stuff, which was an enormous mistake…” – Charles Krauthammer on “Special Report with Bret Baier”

Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.