They might have framed it that way, but it seemed (to me) more of just a case of Hillary's connections in the party and the moves she made to get to that point, as her move to NY to get elected a senator was seen as.
They were banking on her being seen as Bill pt.II, plus people always saying they were Republicans in disguise, thus having crossover appeal - in theory, anyways.
Just cold crass calculation, she irks so, and I thought Bill was annoying.