Birthday wishes from Bill to Hillary

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff

Hillary Clinton is turning 60 on Friday. She's recently been cultivating a more traditional, motherly image as a woman, even joking about how, at her age, she doesn't mind all the attention she's getting from the men in the race.

Women who make jokes like that don't always like talking about their age, and Clinton is older than her leading rivals, John Edwards, 54, and Barack Obama, 46. But Clinton is not being at all bashful. Her husband just sent out an email to supporters asking them to write her a birthday wish. If they follow the link to send their wishes online, they see a TV ad-like video Bill Clinton recorded.

"My wish for her is simple," he says, "To have the opportunity as president to do what she loves best, to help every child in our country live up to his or her God-given potential."

The former president doesn't sing, unfortunately. But Rob Reiner did sing "Happy Birthday, Mrs. President" at a fundraiser he hosted Sunday night.

Perhaps Clinton believes that the birthday is a chance to trumpet her campaign theme of "strength and experience." If her birthday makes you curious about the first twenty years of her life, we've just profiled her youth.