Why Bill’s Past Could Still Hurt Hillary

Slate ^ | Dec. 30 2015 1:36 PM | Michelle Goldberg

[presidio9]

onald Trump has all but promised us that in 2016 we will revisit the peregrinations of Bill Clinton’s penis. “You look at whether it’s Monica Lewinsky or Paula Jones or many of them,” he said Tuesday on NBC’s Today show. “That certainly will be fair game. Certainly if they play the woman’s card with respect to me, that will be fair game.” Like that, thanks to Trump’s near-supernatural command of the news cycle, Bill’s sexual history returned to the headlines. With Bill about to head out on the campaign trail—and with Hillary putting gender issues at the center of her bid for the presidency—it’s likely to stay there for a while.

Among Democrats, the conventional wisdom is that this can only help Hillary. Bill Clinton remains incredibly popular. People historically rally around Hillary when she seems like a victim—her approval ratings surged during the Lewinsky scandal. Besides, the oft-married Trump can’t credibly attack anyone for infidelity, especially given his own past defenses of Bill, whose only sin, in Trump’s estimation, was not cheating with hotter women. As Josh Marshall writes, “[I]n a general election, with an electorate not driven by the things that drive Trump supporters, having a thrice married, philandering blowhard like Trump trying to beat up on a woman over her husband's philandering, about which she is if anything the victim rather than

-SNIP-

But our rules for talking about sexual assault have changed since the 1990s, when these women were last in the news. Today, feminists have repeatedly and convincingly made the case that when women say they’ve been sexually assaulted, we should assume they’re telling the truth. Particularly when it comes to Broaddrick, it’s not easy to square the arguments against believing her with the dominant progressive consensus on trusting victims. This is

-SNIP-

[Bubba_Leroy]

Because Bill was a sexual predator and Hillary helped him?

[Sasparilla]

Hillary’s assault on Bills victims is the biggest war on women problem for her.

[missnry]

All Donald has to do is ask Hillary what she would to “protect” Whitehouse staff from her pervert husband. Follow up with will there be any interns assigned to work with her pervert husband or will she sign an executive order barring any females to be assigned to the first spouse’ staff.

[TBP]

She’s an accessory to his abuse, due to her active participation in the coverup and in further abusing the women by smearing, slandering, and sliming them.

The Whitewater, cattle futures, Rose Law Firm, Chinagate, Filegate, Travelgate, and other scandals from the 1990s show a longstanding pattern of secrecy, corruption, and criminality that is present to this day in the Benghazi affair, the server scandal, the Clinton Foundation contributions scandal, and the like.

[CatOwner]

It hasn’t done her in so far. If anything, some men in this country are jealous he gets away with it, and some women wish to be the one to be tapped by Bill. I see this as not much to be gained by the GOP.

[kaehurowing]

Hillary enabled a sexual predator. That certainly seems relevant as to whether she should be president.

[Company Man]

The past, you know, like six weeks ago , when he was aboard the Lolita Express headed for Pedophile Island. That past?

[Bubba_Leroy]

Today, feminists have repeatedly and convincingly made the case that when women say they've been sexually assaulted, we should assume they're telling the truth.

Liberal feminists have always claimed this. Nothing has changed.

Before Bill Clinton, feminists said that women who claim to have been assaulted by conservatives are always telling the truth. After Bill Clinton, feminists still say that women who claim to have been assaulted by conservatives are always telling the truth.

Democrats have always gotten a pass.

[The Iceman Cometh]

Bill could rape a 9 year old and the liberals would just say he was trying out being a muslim.

Ooops, that's probably hate speech.

[presidio9]

The last excerpt that I included is nothing new to people on FR. But the implications do just seem to be dawning on intelligent people on the left. You can see the understanding begin to creep across some of their faces.

This is a problem, and they no it.

The usual strategy with this story is to deflect by using the words "Monica" and "consensual." The more often that Donald Trump (or whomever) brings the topic back to Juanita Broaddrick, the more difficult it is going to be for honest liberals (believe it or not, there are many) to play along with that deflection.

The only solution that I can see is for Hillary Clinton to try to move her narrative away from women's issues. She has that vote anyway. Attacking Broaddrick is a no win proposition.

[henkster]

And Trump will not be shy about shouting it from the campaign trail. Hillary plays the “woman card,” and Trump plays the...ahem....”Trump card.”

Oh, I just could not resist.

[Timpanagos1]

“[I]n a general election, with an electorate not driven by the things that drive Trump supporters, having a thrice married, philandering blowhard like Trump trying to beat up on a woman over her husband’s philandering, about which she is if anything the victim rather than the perpetrator, is almost comically self-destructive on Trump’s part.”

The Democrats are in panic mode already to reach down into the gutter and attack Donald Trump for his personal life. It is gutter politics meant to destroy Trump and you can bet the Clinton machine will dig up or create womanizing scandals about Trump, even as to go as far as to mention his three marriages.

[LeoWindhorse]

that either of these scalawags is still before the public eye in America , speaks very ill of the American populous on the whole . We have come to tolerate the intolerable and that must change

[TexasFreeper2009]

As far as I can tell covering up her husband multitude of sexual attacks and smearing his victims is the only thing Hillary has ever been good at!

[Pearls Before Swine]

Democrats do not recognize hypocrisy. No wonder they are sympathetic to Islamists.

[elhombrelibre]

The Clintons can always play Trumps previous comments and note the hundreds of thousands of dollars he's given them. They've been like peas and carrots.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-in-2008-hillary-clinton-would-make-a-great-president/

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/in-2008-trump-dismissed-clinton-sex-scandal-as-totally-unimportant/

[Company Man]

Heh, that is the first time I have heard that aphorism since the election cycle began. Conservatives have tremendous restraint!

[taterjay]

Dems will work very hard to find a woman to accuse Trump of something from his past.

[HiTech RedNeck]

To them it’s a brag point, even though they aren’t often overt about it. Look you poor peons of virtue, look at what I got away with.

What they don’t understand is that this is God’s patience, which is extended by Him as proof that He’d rather not see anyone damned. However not even God will refuse the obdurate their desired destination.