Bush asks Bill Clinton to help lead a tsunami relief effort? A rare classy move for Bush -- maybe; more likely, an attempt to avoid being shown up.

Clinton and Bush the Elder will be the joint leaders of the relief campaign -- undoubtedly the White House feared what Clinton might have managed to do on his own if the offer hadn't been made. Clinton, of course, gave an interview to the BBC last Tuesday on the disaster that embarrassed the White House, and his presidential library's home page is very much focused on tsunami relief. (Clinton has already been working for some time to get AIDS drugs to developing countries.)

The big loser in all this is Jeb Bush, whose plan was to use the tsunami to begin his campaign for president, courtesy of his brother. He was supposed to get compassionate-conservative points and bask in the relected glory of the still-much-admired Colin Powell; now he's fifth banana, below Powell and three presidents (including W., who, instead of ceding center stage to Jeb and Colin, has to keep making media appearances to try to overcome the impression that he's pinching pennies). Boo hoo for Jebby.

And while I realize we shouldn't turn compassion into a contest, I do notice that the Web site for Poppy's presidential library doesn't exactly suggest a deep focus on the tsunami.