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Carl Golden Published 10:37 a.m. ET Dec. 5, 2018

Like an aging vaudeville duo whose act has grown stale and whose once-adoring audiences have diminished to a nostalgia-driven handful, Bill and Hillary Clinton have taken to the lecture circuit in their obsessive quest for relevancy and, of course, money.

In their recent opening night in Toronto the first stop on a 13-city, six-month tour the Clintons played to a half empty hall of true believers who cheered their attacks on President Trump, clucked sympathetically and cursed the bad luck that had befallen Hillary in her loss to Trump.

The former first couple is singing to the choir; no one is apt to shell out anywhere from $75 to more than $700 a ticket in the hopes of learning something new. They filed into the Toronto venue because it was an opportunity to reinforce their fealty to the Clintons, swoon over their political heroes, and come away convinced the country is on the road to ruin because, among other things, the American people failed to elect the nations first female president.

Packed houses are unlikely for the remainder of the tour, but the Clintons wont be deterred or embarrassed; the money will continue to flow (once Hillary left office, Bills quarter million dollar speaking fees dried up) and the media will cover their appearances the twin goals of the ex-president and ex-first lady, U.S. senator and Secretary of State.

The distraction the two represent is the last thing the Democratic Party needs or wants as it struggles to accommodate the rising voices of a crop of new, young, ambitious and aggressive activists demanding an overthrow of the party establishment and a dramatic change in thinking.

The Clintons are quintessential establishment figures who stand for small, incremental steps toward change rather than the upheaval demanded by the restless newcomers.

Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who has become the symbol of the new wave for change, was three years old when Bill Clinton won the presidency. Neither she nor her contemporaries have any emotional attachment to his administration, policies or style, nor any desire to follow the same path. The Clintons are throwbacks in her mind, appreciated for their service but to be obeyed or emulated no longer.

While the traveling Clintons berating Trump is consistent with party strategy, many worry the tour is a precursor to muscling Hillary into the mix of potential presidential candidates in 2020, a prospect that produces agita among those who blame her for booting away a sure thing two years ago and who remains a polarizing, divisive figure.

Her recent interview comment Sure, Id like to be president sent shivers up the spines of party regulars whose optimism about 2020 grows with each new Trump pronouncement and Twitter commentary, not to mention the potential for the investigation into allegations the Trump campaign dealt with Russian operatives to influence his election spilling into the Oval Office.

Hillary Clinton, however, is not the object of their optimism. The blue tide that swept Democrats back into control of the House was an anti-Trump phenomenon, but one which someone other than Clinton is best equipped to take advantage of.

The Clintons, though, dont seem concerned with the partys future; only their own.

Her defeat at Trumps hands wasnt simply the loss of an election it was a personal humiliation, a stinging rejection of her principles and values, a beatdown administered by an individual she disdained as inexperienced and unprepared with a volatile and erratic temperament.

Her tour with her husband is a stab at regaining relevancy, but a striving for redemption as well,dramatic proof that her loss was a colossal mistake committed by the American people.

The tour also fulfills a uniquely Clintonian need to occupy as much public space as possible, a relentless effort to remain the center of attention and the object of media and popular appeal.

Raking in considerable sums of money at the same time another uniquely Clintonian trait is an additional and welcome benefit.

Their decision to spend six months traveling the country is an unmistakable sign that, if the party wants them to retire gracefully, it will be forced to push them offstage. Self-absorption is in their DNA and theyre not about to leave voluntarily.

They may be a fading vaudeville act in peril of seeing their names in small typeface near the bottom of the theater lobby card, but the show must go on and they are convinced they deserve starring roles.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University in New Jersey. You can reach him at cgolden1937@gmail.

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Bill and Hillary Clinton should just go quietly

>>>Hillary Clinton shares five reasons why she lost the presidency in 2016 ...

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>>>Hillary Clinton shares five reasons why she lost the presidency in 2016 ...

Bill and Hillary Clinton's Sugar Land tour stop rescheduled

Bill and Hillary Clinton's speaking event in Sugar Land has been rescheduled for a later date due to former president George H. W. Bush's death, the event organizer announced Monday.

The Clintons, initially scheduled to speak atthe Smart Financial Centre Tuesday evening, instead will fly to Washington, D.C., to "pay their respects to President Bush and his family," Live Nation Marketing Director Brian Birr said in an email.

Bush, who Bill Clinton defeated in the 1992 presidential election, died Friday at age 94. His remains are being transported Monday to the U.S. Capitol, ahead of a memorial service Wednesday morning at the National Cathedral.

Live Nation and the Clintons have yet to announce a new date for the Sugar Land event, which was scheduled to be the third stop in a 13-city tour. It kicked off in Toronto, where the duo did not sell out the nearly 20,000-seat Scotiabank Arena.

After Tuesday's event, the Clintons do not have a scheduled tour stop until April, when they will resume at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The tour wraps up in May 2019.

At initial stops in Toronto and Montreal, the Clintons have rebuked Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton about two years ago. Before the tour began, Clinton said in an interview she would "like to be president," but has not indicated whether she plans to run again.

Bush and Bill Clinton maintained close ties in the years following the 1992 election, and Clinton in a statement said he was "profoundly grateful for every minute" he spent with Bush and "will always hold our friendship as one of my life's greatest gifts."

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It seems unlikely former Secretary of State Hillary Clintonwho lost to President Donald Trump in the 2016 electionwould choose to run again.

But if Clinton gives it another go, she currently registers more support among potential 2020 Democratic candidates than Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke, a lawmaker who has surged in popularity despite losing a 2018 Senate race to Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released to The HillMonday surveyed Democratic and independent voters on potential 2020 candidates. When Clinton was included in the field, former Vice President Joe Biden, considered by many to be a favorite to earn the nomination, was the most popular choice at 25 percent. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was second at 15 percent, while Clinton garnered 13 percent. O'Rourke, meanwhile, had 9 percent supportnot bad for someone who just recently sprung on the national scene.

The poll from Harvard CAPS/Harris released to The Hill surveyed 1,407 registered voters from November27 to November 28.

It's worth noting that this far removed from the 2020 election, these sorts of polls are very preliminary and, in many ways, registerlittle more than name recognition.

Hillary Clinton speaks at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on May 10, 2018, in Melbourne, Australia. A recent survey showed Clinton had decent support for a 2020 presidential run. Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

There have been hints that Clinton would consider running againdespite the devastation of 2016, when it was widely expected she would roll over Trump.

"Its curious why Hillary Clintons name isnt in the mixeither conversationally or in formal pollingas a 2020 candidate," longtime Clinton-aide Philippe Reines told Politico in October. "Shes younger than Donald Trump by a year. She's younger than Joe Biden by four years. Is it that shes run before? This would be Bernie Sanders's second time, and Bidens third time. Is it lack of support? She had 65 million people vote for her."

It would be curious to see Clinton chase down a rematch with Trump, who has battled a historic lack of popularity and apresidencychock full of controversy.

Plenty on the Democratic side, however,have floated O'Rourkeas an exciting new option. He roused up a lot of enthusiasm and energy to make the race against Cruz close in a deeply red state. Former President Barack Obamawho surged onto the scene himself in 2008has even said he sees some of himself in O'Rourke, a comparison a number of others have made.

"The whole conversation around Beto has been eerily familiar to me, because these are the exact arguments people made to me when I told them I was considering working for Barack Obama 10 years ago," Dan Pfeiffer, Obamas former communications director,wrote late last month.

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A former adviser to Bill Clinton suggested Hillary Clinton may embark on another bid for the White House ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

The Democratic primary will resolve itself into a series of ethnic and affinity-group contests," Dick Morris said during an interview that aired Sunday on John Catsimatidis' "Cats Roundtable" radio show after being asked for his predictions on the potential 2020 Democratic field of candidates.

[More: Top Hillary Clinton aide: she may run in 2020]

"In the past, the groupings that lead up to the nomination have been largely geographic: The West, the farm states, the South, the rural states. Then it became ideological: the Left against the center against the Right. Now I think its going to be largely ethnic," Morris said. "Youre going to have a female primary, in effect, which is going to be Elizabeth Warren against Kamala Harris and, possibly, with Hillary Clinton. Youre going to have a left-wing primary, which will be Bernie Sanders maybe against Beto ORourke. Youre going to have a black primary, which is going to be Cory Booker against Eric Holder against Deval Patrick against Kamala Harris. And then youll have an establishment primary of Biden against Hillary."

Morris also issued a warning to the GOP following the 2018 midterm elections in which it struggled to gain the support of college-educated, white young women.

Morris, a Republican pollster and political strategist, helped steer Bill Clinton to victory in his 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial and 1996 presidential re-election races by encouraging Clinton to pursue moderate, "third way" politics.

Morris was famously dropped by Clinton as his campaign manager during the 1996 Democratic National Convention after it was revealed he had been involved with a prostitute, who he let listen to calls he had with the then-president. Morris, who has since forged a career as a conservative, anti-Clinton commentator, also insisted in 2012 that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would beat former President Barack Obama in a landslide.

[Opinion: 9 reasons Hillary Clinton would lose the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination]

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Nov. 23, 2018 / 11:25 PM GMT

By Dareh Gregorian

Hillary Clinton on Friday attempted to clarify her comments on European migration hailed by some on the far right, saying that immigration reform, "not open borders," is needed "on both sides of the Atlantic."

I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee told the Guardian newspaper in an interview published Thursday.

Far right parties have used the issue in Europe to score several election victories.

I admire the very generous and compassionate approaches that were taken particularly by leaders like (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel, but I think it is fair to say Europe has done its part, and must send a very clear message we are not going to be able to continue provide refuge and support because if we dont deal with the migration issue it will continue to roil the body politic, Clinton continued.

While Clinton went on to criticize those who prey upon fear of immigrants, her comments earned her praise from some of her foes in Europe, which has been grappling with a massive influx of refugees from the Middle East. Between 2015 and 2016, more than one million migrants and refugees came to the European Union.

Maybe Hillary has understood the lesson, Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, told The New York Times. If you dont control migration it will affect mostly poor people, people living on the outskirts, working classes."

In a series of tweets Friday afternoon, Clinton said, "In a recent interview, I talked about how Europe must reject right-wing nationalism and authoritarianism, including by addressing migration with courage and compassion."

The "EU needs a more comprehensive policy that builds societies that are both secure and welcoming," she continued.

"On both sides of the Atlantic, we need reform. Not open borders, but immigration laws enforced with fairness and respect for human rights. We cant let fear or bias force us to give up the values that have made our democracies both great and good," she wrote.

"Can't just keep doing the same things."

In the Guardian interview, Clinton took a number of shots at how President Donald Trump has handled the issue in the United States.

The use of immigrants as a political device and as a symbol of government gone wrong, of attacks on ones heritage, ones identity, ones national unity has been very much exploited by the current administration here," she said.

There are solutions to migration that do not require clamping down on the press, on your political opponents and trying to suborn the judiciary, or seeking financial and political help from Russia to support your political parties and movements.

Dareh Gregorian

Dareh Gregorian writes for NBC News.

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