DAVIS, Calif. — California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi was trying to warm up the crowd.

“Are you ready for Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States?” he yelled, close to the microphone.

“Bill! Bill! Bill,” the crowd chanted.

A group of college boys in an upper deck tried to start a cheer.

“Four more years,” they yelled.

When the 42nd president took the stage at 9:22 p.m., flanked by members of his Secret Service detail, his white hair glowed under the glaring lights of the UC-Davis basketball arena.

Bill Clinton waved to the crowd five times, as they gave him the first of two standing ovations. The largely young crowd, estimated at 7,800 with 3,500 additional people stuck outside and unable to get in, seemed to energize him. Some had waited more than five hours to get in.

“I love you, Bill,” a young woman shrieked. The ex-president smiled.

If not for the blue signs that said “Hillary,” it might have been a little unclear who was running for president amidst the hoopla.

The jubilant reception afforded the former president at the Tuesday night rally in this left-leaning college town, 105 miles northeast of Stanford, is a reminder of how potent a force Bill Clinton is in his wife’s bid to become the first woman president — especially in California.

“If Hillary Clinton wins the California primary, it’s going to be largely because of Bill Clinton,” said UC-Berkeley Political Science lecturer Dan Schnur, a veteran Republican strategist. “He maintains such a high level of popularity in California that he may be in a position to decide the primary one way or another.”

A not-so-secret weapon?

Without Bill, it seems fair to say there would be no Hillary candidacy. The Man from Hope, Ark. was the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win two terms, and he’s still admired by many — even by those who don’t support his wife.

Beth Lenz, 21, is an undecided moderate who waited three-and-a-half hours to get in.

“Everyone is here for the experience,” she said, noting that she had Republican friends in the crowd. “It was really cool to see a former president.”

Yet a decade after his impeachment, Mr. Clinton carries a lot of baggage as he stumps for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). Analysts say he might symbolize divisiveness, and his eight years in the White House made him the ultimate Washington insider. He has trouble staying on message, and he can steal the spotlight away from his wife at inopportune times.

“There are some liabilities to use him as the principal spokesman,” said Communication Prof. Shanto Iyengar, who teaches classes on political campaign analysis. “A lot of people want to close the page and move forward. They see both Clintons as residuals of the past.”

Mr. Clinton has special pull in the Golden State. While president, he visited the state more than 70 times, according to a tally by the San Francisco Chronicle. His daughter, Chelsea ‘01, went to college at Stanford.

“California was the Clinton’s home away from home during the White House years,” said Hoover Fellow Bill Whalen, a specialist on the state’s politics. “[Hillary] has developed a good, established network out here.”

Clinton fatigue?

During his speech at Davis, Clinton talked about how different the world was when he took office in January 1993. There were only a handful of Web sites on the Internet, he said, and the average cell phone weighed five pounds. That kind of anecdote, while it got the crowd laughing, is a reminder of how long the Clintons have been on the national scene.

If Sen. Clinton won, it would mean a Bush or Clinton would be president for at least 24, maybe even 28, consecutive years.

“There’s a fundamental yearning for different style of politics,” Iyengar said. “A lot of people feel that [Illinois Sen. Barack] Obama represents a complete break from this normal, conventional style of politics.”

The electorate’s professed desire for change, which catapulted Obama to a decisive win in Iowa, forces Clinton strategists to make careful calculations about how they can effectively deploy Mr. Clinton so he does not outshine his wife, analysts say.

“It’s similar to the situation that Al Gore faced in 2000,” said Iyengar, “whether to embrace Bill Clinton or keep him at an arm’s length distance.”

There were signs that Mr. Clinton was wearing out his welcome in New Hampshire. Mark Leibovich reported in a front-page New York Times story that the onetime Comeback Kid was “drawing sleepy and sometimes smallish crowds at big venues.”

The next day, the Times reported that Clinton gave a speech at Dartmouth College that “both bored many students (who walked out) and generated much controversy.”

Do crowds mean votes?

There was no sign of Clinton fatigue at Davis.

Maybe it was because Mrs. Clinton scored an upset in New Hampshire and saw a subsequent bounce in national polls. Maybe it was because students in California haven’t had to put up with months of candidate sojourns through their school. Or maybe it was because Bill Clinton still has his mojo.

After talking about the need to develop alternative energies, he began to transition.

“We have to decide,” Clinton said, gearing up to pitch his wife. “Who would be the best person to do this?”

“You,” a woman yelled, prompting laughter and some cheering from the crowd.

Mr. Clinton continued.

“You need to know what your next president will do in the face of failure,” he said. “The president is the world’s most important employee ... You have to have someone who can handle all the pressure and all the adulation and never forget you.”

In two dozen interviews after the speech, students here said Mr. Clinton’s appearance would not necessarily sway their vote.

“It was a lot of things you’d expect a past president to say,” said Julien Lacrosse, 18, who plans to vote for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in the Democratic primary on Feb. 5. “He didn’t push Hillary as much as I thought he would.”

Going negative?

Mr. Clinton’s unique position as the highest profile spouse and surrogate in the race has perhaps allowed him to say things his wife cannot. He’s generally been perceived as more openly critical of Obama than she has. He prompted headlines and put the Clinton campaign on the defensive, for example, when in New Hampshire he reportedly characterized the Illinois senator’s campaign as a “fairy tale.”

At his speech here, however, Clinton only directly criticized Obama for what he said was an inadequate health care plan. He mentioned Obama’s name only to note that he had campaigned for the Illinois senator in 2004. “I like ‘em all,” he said of the Democratic field.

Another time, he alluded to the senator as “our opponent.”

In that way, Mr. Clinton fits the part typically played by a vice presidential nominee.

“Primary candidates don’t have running mates,” said Schnur of Berkeley, “except for Hillary.”

More good than bad?

Ultimately, the consummate politician once sinisterly called Slick Willie by his critics has an uncanny, almost innate, ability to connect with people and crowds. He can quiet an audience, give people the jitters and show empathy — think “I feel your pain” — better than anyone in the business.

“He’s just marvelous on his feet,” said UC-Davis Political Science Prof. Ed Constantini. “Who wouldn’t want the biggest draw in American politics on your side and working 24/7 on your behalf?”