If she's elected president, Sen. Hillary Clinton has promised her first priority will be ending the war in Iraq. But the Democratic candidate would face another pressing decision.

What should Bill do?

"Oh God, he's so brilliant, so capable, so experienced," June Donegan said yesterday morning at a rally in Keene with both Clintons: the current senator and the former president. Donegan was still glowing from a conversation in which Bill Clinton - "so handsome," she said - gave her tips on her golf swing. If she were elected, Donegan said, she'd use him in her Cabinet.

The Clintons campaigned across New Hampshire yesterday, and voters in Keene said they liked seeing Hillary and Bill together. The key to using Bill Clinton effectively, they said, is for his wife to draw on his experience and popularity while maintaining her own authority - a doable balancing act, most agreed.

Bill Clinton "has been around the block a few times," said Stephen Seraichick, of Westmoreland. "He's so knowledgeable. He's the perfect guy to have as a husband."

"He'll make a good First Lady," said Laura Seraichick, his wife.

"I'm not sure how that's going to work out," Stephen Seraichick responded. "I know he's adaptable. I think it'd be better if he's not in an official position. She has to look like she's making the calls herself, and she's leading the country."

Hillary Clinton answered the Bill question at last month's Democratic debate in New Hampshire, and she answered it again yesterday, referring to her husband as "my No. 1 ambassador." That's a good role for Bill Clinton, many voters said.

"Basically, what he's been doing with Poppa Bush," said Allison Nason of Swanzey. "Keep him busy, keep him out of trouble."

After the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, Bill Clinton worked alongside former president George H. W. Bush to fundraise for disaster relief - an effort Nason thinks should continue. Clinton also heads a foundation that fights AIDS and works to improve health care in developing countries.

Projects like that, Mike Kaul said, have already carved out a role for Clinton if his wife wins the presidency.

"I don't think that he's going to be sitting around the White House, twiddling his thumbs," said Kaul, who's from Keene.

While he said Bill Clinton would be the most important presidential spouse to date "except for Eleanor Roosevelt," Kaul warned against assigning him too much responsibility, pointing out what happened when Bill Clinton charged his wife with handling health care reform.

That, Kaul said, "was too much for a spouse to do."

Yesterday morning, Hillary Clinton played up her husband's presence, and the crowd reacted favorably. "Clinton Country" signs dotted the stands, and one man held up a handwritten version: "Happy times are here again! Enough of the Bushes - bring back Bubba!" Bill Clinton spoke for about 10 minutes before handing the microphone to his wife, "the next president." Along with the exchange came a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

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