Will Monica Lewinsky Resurface As Issue in 2008?

March 31st, 2007

During the 2000 presidential campaign, there is little doubt that residual after-shocks from the Monicagate scandal inflicted mortal damage on Al Gore’s presidential campaign. Gore tried to inoculate himself from Bill Clinton’s philandering antics by keeping him at a distance from his campaign. It didn’t work. The fact that only a few hundred votes in Florida seperated him from the presidency demonstrates how Al Gore paid the price for Bill Clinton’s behavior.

But not Hillary. As Al Gore lost, Hillary Clinton won the Senate election in New York, thus beginning the first big step in mounting her presidential campaign. As the 2008 campaign has already begun, Hillary, unlike Al Gore, is placing her husband and ex- president Bill Clinton in center stage as she mounts her aggressive vault towards reentry into the White House. Does that mean that she, like Al Gore, will be vulnerable to attempts by the Republicans to revive the Monica Lewinsky scandal?

There is little doubt that elements in the Republican camp will bring up Monicagate at every opportunity open to them. However, unlike the 2000 presidential campaign, it is unlikely to work this time. If the Republican nominees are Rudy Guiliani, with three marriages, or McCain, married twice, Hillaryland will find ways of throwing mud back at the Republicans, thus neutralizing the issue. As Hillary herself said, when attacked by Republicans, she will “deck them.” In addition, the Hillary camp will run saturation bombing ads decrying the corruption and incompetence of the Bush administration. They will do it in a way that will make efforts to revive Monicagate appear as a false distraction from a substantive rationale as to why the American people should again trust the Republicans after 8 years of Bush.

The irony of Monicagate is that it is relevant in the sense that it unveiled the dishonesty, self-indulgence and irresponsible character of both Clintons. However, after the disasters of the last eight years, the Republicans cannot hope to defeat Hillary Clinton by merely attacking her husband. Unless they have a positive case to bring to the American people that does not whitewash the catastrophic nature of the Bush administration, their attempts at reminding the American people of what a previous Clinton administration inflicted on the nation are likely to fall on deaf ears. The only candidate who can defeat Hillary Clinton is one who can effectively make the case that he/she will do far better for America than either Billl and Hillary Clinton or George W.Bush.

Entry Filed under: Sheldon Filger, Author:"Hillary Clinton Nude"