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Time capsule from 1990s reignites Clinton wars
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America is getting a new look at an old version of Hillary Clinton, with a time capsule from the political maelstrom that tore through her life in the 1990s.
The revelations are contained in notes of communications with Clinton when she was first lady, taken by her confidant Diane Blair, an Arkansas professor who died in 2000.
The unflattering character sketch of Clinton is a far cry from the poised and popular operator she has since become and it is already fueling a pseudo political war as she deliberates over another White House run in 2016.
The papers reveal Clinton to be “baffled and angry” at the ways of Washington, mystified by people out to “destroy” her husband’s administration, and furious at him for a chaotic first two years in office.
Since losing the Democratic Party’s presidential nominating race to Barack Obama in 2008, Clinton has refashioned her image, serving him loyally as secretary of state and is again a big favorite to lead the Democratic ticket.
But the Blair archive includes polling by Democrats in 1992 which found voters admired Clinton’s intelligence but saw her as “ruthless,” highlighting how divisive a figure she was in her White House years when she attracted fire by carving out a policy role as first lady.
Marriage rocked
The papers, first reported by the Washington Free Beacon website, offer a glimpse inside the Clinton marriage, rocked by president Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Blair reveals that the first lady faulted her husband for a “huge personal lapse” but also branded Lewinsky a “narcissistic loony toon.”
Some Republicans have made a tactical decision not to let the 1990s rest.
Senator Rand Paul, a possible 2016 hopeful, has brought up Bill Clinton’s indiscretions in several recent interviews, lashing his “predatory” behavior.
Paul appeared to be making a play for the Clinton-hating Republican Party base and evangelical voters which he would need in a nominating race.
Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus meanwhile said “everything is on the table” should Clinton win the Democratic nomination.
But does raking up the scandals of the 1990s — which seem a lifetime ago in today’s Twitter-driven political game — make sense?
“Clearly Republicans think it is a viable strategy,” said Costas Panagopoulos, who teaches the next generation of American campaign managers at Fordham University in New York, who was skeptical.
“I am not convinced it will work. Hillary Clinton has been around long enough for people to know what they like about her, and what they do not like.”
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