The Magic & Bill Show, Providing The Charisma Assist

"He's pretty cool," Justice says, clutching a basketball. "He doesn't like to think he's the best like LeBron James."

Well behind schedule, the main attractions are introduced to the crowd. They are an odd pair: the exhausted-looking Clinton wearing a sweater, black jeans and cowboy boots, and Johnson, who towers over his counterpart, dressed in black. Yet both men have suffered public moral lapses only to find redemption. When Johnson disclosed he was HIV-positive, it brought to light his private misdeeds, but in time he became an advocate for AIDS research and health. Likewise Clinton weathered the storm of the Lewinsky scandal and impeachment and has become involved in humanitarian causes.

But once onstage the two seem to draw energy from each other. Clinton begins with a short introduction of Johnson, who lays out why he wants a Clinton presidency. Among other reasons: She's the best person to restore our relationships with people abroad.

When Clinton takes the microphone again, he seems as if he's never going to stop. He recalls his wife's early career helping impoverished children and the Arkansas school system. He talks about her work in the Senate and on global warming. Doing that thing that Bill Clinton does, he transforms his wife from the safe choice into the crusader of what's been good in America and what can be good going forward.

"You will never, ever have a better chance to vote for a better agent of change," he says, the subtext of Obama bubbling up through the floorboards.

Afterward, sitting in a crowded office surrounded by items he has to autograph, Johnson says, "Remember something about the Clintons: They're winners and Hillary Clinton wants to win. She wants to win because she has the best experience, the best vision. Bill Clinton wants her to win, and he's supporting her."

Staff writer Anne E. Kornblut and staff researcher Rena Kirsch contributed to this report.