Is Vernon the one to tell Hillary to quit?

Vernon Jordan, the powerful Washington lawyer and fixer who 10 years ago found himself at the epicentre of the Monica Lewinsky storm, is back in the spotlight. If Hillary Clinton fails to win today's crucial Texas and Ohio primaries convincingly, someone has to tell her to give up. If her husband Bill doesn't have the nerve, insiders believe it will be Jordan who'll advise the couple to step aside for Barack Obama.

Jordan, now 72, has been a long and loyal friend to the Clintons. It was he who arranged a new job for Monica Lewinsky when it became imperative, following the scandal of her affair with Bill Clinton, that she disappeared. Which was why, a decade ago this very week, he was hauled before the infamous prosecutor Ken Starr to explain why he took such a personal interest in a young intern's career.

When Bill was finally forced to admit the affair, and went off with Hillary and their daughter Chelsea to Martha's Vineyard, the humiliated First Family left their holiday home for only one date - a birthday dinner with Jordan and his wife, Ann.

Not surprisingly, as one of the most powerful African-Americans in Washington, Jordan has been involved in Obama's rise to fame. Writing on the Huffington Post website last month, George Stevens Jr recounted how in 2003 he was invited to drop by at a Washington fundraiser for an up-and-coming young politician from Illinois. The young man was Barack Obama and the man whose home was used for the event was Vernon Jordan.