I'm not surprised that GHW Bush felt obligated to nix this proposal, and that he couldn't possibly have known about it in advance. He is still a Republican, after all, as well as his baby's daddy. How much humiliation is he supposed to swallow?

However, the idea was not entirely far-fetched. I as tempted to assume that everyone knows about Bill and George-the-First's cooperative fundraising for Katrina/Rita relief, but maybe many of your out there in the "normal" world don't know, or forget. The two of them have been doing a LOT of travelling together over the past couple of years, seeming to get along very easily and nicely, and have been pretty successful in collecting donations.

So, it's undrestandable that Hill and/or Bill might have assumed that George the Elder might continue to play nice and cooperate with a newly elected Prez Clinton and his good buddy, her husband. Of course, at this time, the old guy absolutely has to visibly support his idiot son, and also to be seen as supporting the GOP and whomever emerges as its candidate.

After the election is done, however, GHWB will be more free to act as a "senior diplomat" and to cooperate with the new President, regardless of who he/she might be, or from which party.