( CNN ) -- Sometimes it feels like President Clinton never left the public spotlight . Although there were moments during the 2008 campaign when it seemed he was as much of a target within his own party as were the Republicans , these days Clinton is everywhere and Democrats want him by their side . Members of President Obama 's campaign team say Clinton will offer them his services next year . The re-emergence of President Clinton in Obama 's circles has been gradual . It has taken time to recover from the tensions that flared during the 2008 Democratic primaries , when some Democrats accused Clinton of making racist remarks following Obama 's victory over Sen. Hillary Clinton in South Carolina . But over the past year , the White House has brought him back on more and more occasions to strengthen Obama 's standing . What explains the former president 's appeal -- beyond his knowing how to work the necessary magic that got him re-elected in 1996 and left booming approval ratings at the end of his presidency ? His strengths offer some guidance for President Obama to improve his standing , even beyond his campaign . The first is that President Clinton was very successful at counteracting Republicans when they attacked . One of President Obama 's great frustrations has been the `` messaging wars . '' He has frequently been frustrated by how the GOP portrays him to the public and defines his policies in unfavorable ways . Clinton did n't let the GOP do that easily . When Republicans painted the president as left of center early in his term , he responded by aggressively highlighting his centrist credentials , lowering the deficit in 1993 and reforming welfare in 1996 . Although he accepted their terms of debate , unlike when President Obama has done the same , he was able to follow through on that co-optation by strengthening his party 's standing . When House Republicans shut down the government over spending , Clinton helped convince the public that they were extremists , forcing Republicans to backtrack . When the GOP started the process to impeach President Clinton in 1998 and 1999 , he focused public attention on that process , which he said was driven purely by partisan concerns . Republicans said that the president was corrupt . The president responded that Republicans were simply using impeachment for partisan purposes . His approval ratings skyrocketed . The GOP struggled . The second reason is that President Clinton was relentless in his focus on the economy . Clinton , who famously campaigned with `` It 's the economy , stupid '' in 1992 , never took his eye off the ball . He continued to hammer away at the recession that he inherited and did n't stop talking about the problems Americans faced . Although Clinton did turn his attention toward health care in 1993 and 1994 , he continued to work on the economy , such as the Family and Medical Leave Act . He proposed enterprise zones to try and revitalize urban areas and fought against Republican proposed cuts to key domestic programs . During the rebound of the mid-1990s , Clinton was in a good position to claim credit for the improved circumstances . President Obama has certainly worked hard to improve the economy . In more dramatic fashion than Clinton , he persuaded Congress to pass an economic stimulus bill as well as financial regulation . But too often , President Obama has seemed focused on other concerns , whether it was health care reform in his first two years as president or deficit reduction after the midterm elections . The situation has left many Democrats yearning for a president who understood that economic recovery was the top priority for many in the party . The final reason is that President Clinton displayed a phenomenal ability to show empathy with Americans who were suffering , whether they were struggling with hard economic times or were the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing . Although empathy is much different from policy , it was clear that Clinton 's ability to forge connections with voters in small groups , or even through speeches , was one of the reasons his polls remained so strong . This has been one of the hardest challenges for the president , who often seems distant and disconnected from the problems facing the country . Obama , a skilled orator , has had trouble connecting to voters at this level . None of this is to ignore the many Democrats who still look back to the Clinton years with a skeptical eye . After all , some Democrats argue that he helped to promote the deregulatory policies that fueled the financial meltdown and that he did little to reverse the growing economic inequality in America . Nonetheless , many aspects of his presidency are attractive in retrospect . For all these reasons , President Clinton is back . The man who often positioned himself against the Clinton legacy is running side by side with him . Besides the campaign for reelection , President Obama should spend some time thinking about what lessons Clinton has to offer this presidency in the final months of his first term -- and in his second term , should that come to pass . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer .
Julian Zelizer : Bill Clinton has re-emerged as a political force to be cultivated . Obama could learn how Clinton got himself re-elected , he says , won high ratings . Zelizer : Clinton succeeded in countering GOP attacks , stayed focused on economy . He was able to get the country back into recession and then win reelection with an approval rating of around 60 percent.