Hillary's Husband Problem
Sexism might have something to do
with the fact that Hillary has to answer questions
about her husband which the other candidates
never get asked about their wives
But Bill has always had a way of
making himself the story, and he's at it again
Bill Clinton speaking at a New Jersey fundraiser
for Hillary Clinton this week.
What a glamorized photo of Hillary!
When the Clintons made a campaign stop at
an Iowa grocery store Tuesday, Hillary's face said it all
She realized that Bill had departed from the script
and wandered off to another part of the store,
and cameras caught her scanning
the aisles with a look of sheer terror
Bill was supposed to be at Hillary's side
Instead, he was way over yonder,
giving an interview to "Entertainment Tonight"
What was supposed to be a controlled photo-op
had suddenly turned into a happening
Kill Bill? [Original]
Hillary Clinton tells audiences that having lived in the White House for eight eventful years, she's eager to take charge as president on "day one." Apparently, though, so is Bill.
Before the Clinton campaign's recent shift to themes of warmth and approachability, a major weapon against the Barack Obama insurgency was the argument that Hillary could move right in and get to work reforming health care or restructuring foreign policy.
She wouldn't need to spend months learning how to work the buttons on the Oval Office telephone.
It's true that Obama, like almost all presidents, would face a steep learning curve as he worked to master the arcane procedures and perquisites of life inside the White House bubble.
So would any of the other contenders from either party, except Clinton. The learning-curve issue for her -- and it has no precedent in American history -- would be figuring out how to deal with a husband who was very good at being president but shows little talent or motivation for being a president's spouse.
Sexism might have something to do with the fact that Hillary Clinton has to answer questions about her husband that the other candidates never get asked about their wives. But Bill Clinton has always had a way of making himself the story, and he's at it again.
When the Clintons made a campaign stop at an Iowa grocery store Tuesday, Hillary's face said it all.
She realized that Bill had departed from the script and wandered off to another part of the store, and cameras caught her scanning the aisles with a look of sheer terror.
Bill was supposed to be at Hillary's side; instead, he was way over yonder, giving an interview to "Entertainment Tonight." What was supposed to be a controlled photo-op had suddenly turned into a happening.
Spontaneity gives ulcers to campaign staffers, but the supermarket stop got much more coverage than it would have if Bill had followed the script.
He ended up drawing more attention to himself than the candidate -- which is in keeping with his formal campaign speeches.
On the stump, he draws big crowds and comes off as charming, eloquent and persuasive. But reporters who have tallied his words say that he talks more about himself than about his wife -- at a ratio of about 9 to 1.
The real problem comes when Bill goes off message. Campaigning in South Carolina on Monday, he said that Hillary's No. 1 priority as president would be to send a group of notables -- including himself and former president George Bush the Elder -- on an around-the-world mission to repair America's image.
As one might expect, Poppy didn't react well at all to the implication that his son, George Bush the Younger, had sullied that image.
He issued a frosty statement saying that no one had ever talked to him about any such mission, and that anyway no such thing was needed, and that besides -- remember? -- he's a Republican.
That episode shows what Hillary Clinton might face in the White House. After his eight years as president, and nearly seven as a millionaire statesman/philanthropist/philosopher, is Bill Clinton capable of following any script?
He's used to saying whatever he wants to say, whenever he wants to say it. And he's a talented improviser, always overflowing with ideas -- some of them brilliant, some half-baked -- that he can't wait to share with his listeners.
Does anyone think that William Jefferson Clinton would confine himself to the bland, inoffensive pronouncements we've come to expect from presidential spouses?
I'd give him two weeks of ribbon-cuttings and ceremonial visits before he felt compelled -- and perhaps entitled -- to jump into policy.
Clearly, the smart thing would be to give him a portfolio of his own rather than let him play hopscotch.
But how would anyone keep him on the reservation? How would anyone tone down his charisma?
And what would happen if a new Clinton administration gutted one of the accomplishments of the old Clinton administration?
One potential case in point is the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Hillary says has to be modified. If she were to keep that campaign promise, would Bill just smile sweetly on his way to the next East Room reception?
What people think of Bill Clinton and his presidency is grist for other columns.
For now, I'm asking a simpler question: Since the Constitution provides for one president, not two, could he find a way to live in a White House that wasn't all about him?
"We Are the President"
During the government investigation of the Clinton Whitewater scandal (difficult times for them – 15 of their colleagues/friends were convicted of Whitewater crimes), Hillary Clinton responded to questions regarding the possible release of Whitewater documents by saying:
“I’m not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president.” (Underscoring that her co-presidency was a reality.)
Similarly, her response, when Gennifer Flowers said she had a 12-year affair with Mr. Clinton: “We have to destroy her.” Or when she said, “God bless the America we are trying to create.” (Relegating God to approving their intended creation.)
Fast forward to Nov. 6, when appearing on CNN commenting on immigration, she observed that:
“The federal government should be making immigration policy and that’s what I’m going to try to do as president again.”
Even Mr. Clinton was quick to say about his wife during the 1992 campaign, “Buy one, get one free.” She often would remind audiences, “People call us two-for-one; the blue-light special.”
She uses this theme of having “White House” experience to burnish her credentials, but it brings up the larger question:
If Mrs. Clinton had special unelected status as co-president, what on earth can we expect Mr. Clinton’s role to be when she is elected president?
This former president is a heavyweight and expects center stage. It is a serious question and deserves serious thought regardless of your political affiliation.
Democrats surely realize that Mrs. Clinton has enough baggage of her own, without adding the various scandals of her talented philandering husband. Surely, this has been carefully analyzed by the Clintons and their political machine – the best in the business.
Another potential pitfall: Her husband gives new meaning to the term charisma. He lights up a room. Put the two of them together and he will outshine her every time.
Men, women and our overseas allies love him. She is cold, aloof and gets high negatives from men.
(Her strength is the female vote. It’s hard to imagine some feminine group – or anyone for that matter – introducing the two as “The next president of the United States and her lovely husband, Bill.”)
In my view, the game plan will be to continue to use Bill Clinton after her nomination, but have them appear separately.
The danger is that he will misspeak as he did on Nov. 27 while campaigning for his wife, and trying to appeal to the anti-war Iowa vote. (Mrs. Clinton never apologized for her vote for the war.)
With a straight face, he unabashedly said that he “opposed Iraq from the beginning,” thus glossing over the truth and rewriting history. But that story had no legs, given the media’s bias.
The next day he was gently criticized by the media – reminded of the truth – end of story; not the relentless and never-ending media attacks that we see on issues that would cast a Republican in a negative light.
Bill Clinton will want to continue to be a player in Mrs. Clinton’s administration – and make no mistake about it; he will be a player after her election – cabinet appointments, attendance at cabinet meetings, the international agenda, etc.
I’m sure he told his wife her presidency will be payback time for him. He can’t help himself. He has a huge ego, enormous talent and is too young to retire.
After her election, he will be more than a roving ambassador or a trouble-shooter. At the very least it will be a true co-presidency.
But there is a very real possibility that he will, like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who is also term-limited by Russia’s constitution to two terms, reinvent himself politically and constitutionally as the senior co-president for her administration.
He would be useful in the male dominated cultures of the Middle-East and the Far-East, where he would not be expected to appear in public wearing a head scarf.
Since he is a dominant male and subservient to no woman, he would be well received in the United Nations as a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton’s administration.
Think about it. If Mrs. Clinton said, “We are the president,” why would Bill Clinton think he would be anything less? And why not something more?
Bill Clinton has been out on the campaign trail reminding people of the
things they didn't like about Bill Clinton.
He said recently that he was against the Iraq war from the beginning despite the fact that he is on the record to the contrary.
But that's Bill Clinton isn't it? He's always been a master of making us feel good about whatever he feeds us, even if it is baloney. I wonder if he knows he's full of it, baloney that is.
Bill Clinton's interview with Ne Hampshire's Concord Monitor: