He compared Kerry to another Democrat who feared being overshadowed by his predecessor's ambitious relative, saying, "I think this is very much the way Lyndon Johnson felt towards Bobby Kennedy."

"She will probably get a bigger spontaneous reception than he will" at the convention, King predicted, adding that Kerry's attempt to sideline the former first lady only exposed his own insecurity.

The fact that Mrs. Clinton wasn't penciled in at the outset for a starring convention role "shows to me that John Kerry is scared stiff of Hillary Clinton and the support that she has," said King.

While stressing that he has "a good working relationship with Hillary Clinton, so I'm not into any of the Hillary bashing," the New York Republican said he thinks Sen. Clinton may have encouraged her backers to complain about her non-prime-time role at the convention. "I'm convinced that [Hillary's] people turned her supporters loose on Kerry," an apparent reference to former New York State Democratic Party chairwoman Judith Hope, a fellow Arkansan who loudly protested the snub.

Kerry's concern about the former first couple isn't limited to the convention, Crowley told King.

"I had a conversation with a top Democrat this week, and he told me that John Kerry recognizes that he's got a serious problem with the Clintons - and he just doesn't know what to do with them."

Editor's note: