Money & Power
Money & Power
Money & Power
Money & Power
Money & Power
Posted on 06/08/2003 6:16:18 AM PDT by shortstop
"Dumbfounded?" "Tears and tirades?" "Gulping for air?"
It's worse than I thought it would be. What is Hillary Clinton doing?
"I'm a private person," she said outside her Senate office on Wednesday, where dozens of cameras were gathered to record her reaction to the feeding frenzy that excerpts from her forthcoming book have caused. Could have fooled me.
Like her or not, there's no denying that Hillary Clinton is a smart woman. When she wrote this book, she had to know that the passages that would get the attention would be the ones about her husband's relationship with Monica Lewinsky. For a supposedly private person, she gave chapter and verse: the scene in the bedroom; the marriage on the brink; sleeping arrangements on vacation; and how her decision to run for Senate brought them back together, which I'm sure is true.
As for the rest, who knows?
Was Hillary really the last to know? Sometimes the wife is.
I've known Bill Clinton for years, and I never doubted for a minute that he had an "inappropriate sexual relationship" (that's what I called it, when I talked to him) with Monica Lewinsky. I laughed when one White House aide suggested that I deny it. The president himself all but acknowledged it to me when I asked him, in the course of giving him advice. But maybe Hillary never asked; maybe he lied to her and she believed it, notwithstanding everything that had gone before.
But why detail it all now?
For $8 million? Sure, the publishers wanted the details. But she was in charge. They couldn't make her say what she didn't want to. Money has never motivated the Clintons. Power has.
It certainly doesn't help Democrats. On television last night, there was Hillary, on every network, on every show, dominating the news. Forget about John Edwards or John Kerry or Dick Gephardt; forget about WMDs and the economy and deficits ... Who can get attention when the Clintons are out front discussing their marriage? President Clinton's book is due out just in time for the general election. What a coincidence. Good for sales. Bad for the nominee.
Do they really want a Democrat to win in 2004? I hate to say it, but the answer may be no. Hillary will be too old to run in 2012. Her year would be 2008. But she couldn't take on an incumbent Democratic president. She needs an open seat, not President Dean running for a second term.
She also needs the support of women, many of whom still don't understand why she stood by her man when he humiliated her so publicly. Early polls during the New York Senate race showed that many women who agreed with her on the issues were angry at her for letting him off the hook so easily. The conventional wisdom was that it was her ambition that explained her loyalty, an explanation that women liked even less.
So is this the answer for '08? Is it an effort to win the sympathy of women, to make clear that, contrary to top aide Sidney Blumenthal's version, which had them working together to save him and his presidency, she wasn't sure she would stand by him this time? So it seems, unfortunately.
I don't believe that Hillary Clinton will ever be president, for reasons that have little to do with Monica Lewinsky. Any woman will face huge obstacles, and Hillary Clinton begins as one of the most divisive figures in politics. Her husband is a political genius. But she could be a great senator, if she put that ambition aside.
But if she did, she really wouldn't need him ...
To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2003 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Originally Published on Friday June 6, 2003
Is this the beginning of the end for the Clinton's domination of the DNC? I hope not!!! (They are a goldmine for the Republicans)
Susan, you croaking toad. Anyone who says the Clintons have not been motivated by money is a liar.
Hasn't Rush been predicting this for some time?
The rest of the RATS must be hatin' this while I'm lovin' it! Bring on Babba Wawwa!
Hmmmm. Think that would work in my household?
"Sweetheart, I have something to tell you. There's good news and bad news. I've been sleeping with a woman half my age. Well, actually, I've been mostly just getter hummers, but thats not the point. The point is, there's a job opening up for you, as long as we're willing to move. Do we make a great pair, or what!"
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