Bill Clinton has made his 2016 campaign debut on behalf of his wife.

The reports are that Donald Trump is casting a large shadow over the former president’s initial appearance. Never mind. It will not diminish President Clinton’s drawing power.

The ex-Democratic president is going to start stumping for his wife, the presumptive Democratic frontrunner. Take this to the bank: He’s going to be — to borrow a term from Trump — a “huuuuuge” asset.

How do I know this?

Well, let’s flash back to 2008. Hillary Clinton was in the midst of a heated primary campaign against a fellow U.S. senator, Barack H. Obama. The Texas primary was coming up and the race wasn’t yet decided.

Hillary decided to call on Bill to make a campaign appearance for her, of all places, in Amarillo.

The former president’s advance team did its usual stellar job of preparing for the event. Bill Clinton would speak at the Amarillo Civic Center.

He came here — into the belly of the proverbial beast. This is blood-red Republican territory. We are the reddest part of the reddest state in the country. Look far and wide and you’ll find hardly Democrats holding elective office in any of the 26 counties that comprise the Texas Panhandle.

Bill Clinton came to the Panhandle in the midst of the 2008 campaign and he was met by a standing-room-only crowd. The crowd packed the Civic Center Grand Plaza; it spilled out into the hallway.

People came from all over the region to hear the former president. I have knowledge of a good number of dedicated Republicans who attended the event because they wanted to hear what the former Democratic Leader of the Free World had to say on behalf of his wife.

Will he replicate his astonishing drawing power in the 2016 campaign?

Here’s a word to the wise: Do not bet against him.