(4 of 7)
To some extent, Clinton may be suffering merely from being a newcomer to the national spotlight -- and one who quickly got tabbed as the Democratic front runner, thus assuring himself of exceptionally early and intense scrutiny. Clinton's wife Hillary recently wondered aloud why George Bush was not also being relentlessly pummeled about his character. Though she quickly apologized for raising the particular issue that she did -- whispers, never substantiated, that Bush had had an extramarital affair -- she had a point. Why has Bush not been questioned incessantly about his son Neil's involvement with a savings and loan association that failed because of unsound banking practices? About his knowledge of possibly illegal and unconstitutional Iran- contra activities? About his flip-flops on abortion, taxes, Saddam Hussein and many other issues? About the widepread impression that he has no strong beliefs about anything except his own ability to fill the Oval Office? The answer, probably, is that Bush has been around long enough for people to feel they know as much about him, good or bad, as they need to; unanswered questions left over from past campaigns are regarded as old news. And voters do not have to guess what kind of President Bush is likely to be, as they must with Clinton; they can form their judgments on the basis of Bush's record through more than three years in office.
Clinton may also be suffering more than his rivals, and more than past candidates, from the backlash of anger against all politics and politicians, which has been far stronger in this campaign than ever before. In another election cycle, the Governor might have profited from his reputation as a master politician who has shown a rare ability in Arkansas to convince often clashing interests that he is on their side. Clinton's defenders like to point out that the now sainted Franklin D. Roosevelt was often regarded in his day as a crafty politician promising something for everybody. But 1992 is the worst possible year to be called "Slick Willie" -- the nickname invented by opponents of Clinton in Arkansas that he detests but has never been able to shake.
The specific accusations against Clinton are a mixed bag, involving two kinds of "character" questions. One set focuses on private character -- allegations of adultery and marijuana smoking, for example -- that have no correlation to presidential performance, except for whatever a candidate's comments about them reveal as to his general honesty or lack of it. Regrettably, this group of problems has received the most attention because it is -- well, sexier than questions about what might be called public character. These are matters such as conflict-of-interest situations and how a candidate might carry out the duties of office. The common denominator is that Clinton's answers to all these questions have generally been ineffective. In fact, worse than ineffective: They have sometimes got him into deeper trouble than he was in before. Some details:
INFIDELITY