Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Hillary: Sex Goddess (BARF ALERT)
Time Magazine | March 30, 1992 | Margaret Carlson

Posted on 11/17/2003 7:50:11 AM PST by venizelos

"All the men I know want to sleep with her [Hillary Clinton]. All the women want to scratch her eyes out."

Anne Reingold
Media director
Democratic National Committee
1992

When Spouses Earn Paychecks
As politicians' wives increasingly forge careers of their own, questions about conflicts of interest inevitably arise

By MARGARET CARLSON;

With reporting by Barbara Burke/New York and Jeanne McDowell/Los Angeles

The presidential campaign completed one full revolution when Bill Clinton found himself standing by his woman on national television. The moment came during a debate before the Illinois and Michigan primaries, when rival candidate Jerry Brown accused the Governor of steering state business to his wife Hillary's Arkansas law firm. "You," the furious Clinton replied, "ought to be ashamed of yourself for jumping on my wife."

Conflict-of-interest charges are nothing new for political spouses, especially wives. They are easy to make and hard to refute, and can obscure a hidden intent to put an uppity woman in her place. "This is the sort of thing that happens to women who have their own careers," Hillary Clinton said about charges that she helped a savings and loan represented by her law firm to get a break from the state securities board, which is appointed by her husband. "For goodness' sake, you can't be a lawyer if you don't represent banks." Clinton was so rattled by the accusations that she forgot that she hardly ever represents banks. And before she could convey her conviction that feminism means the choice for women to work or not, she snapped, "I suppose I could have stayed home, baked cookies and had teas."

It is doubtful that Clinton would have blundered into such a feminist minefield if the charges hadn't struck the hypersensitive spot inside women who try to make it in a man's world. Many of them still feel that somehow they haven't made it on their own or will be dismissed if they step over some invisible line of appropriate female conduct. This is particularly touchy in politics, which remains a bastion of prefeminist expectations, even though more and more politicians' wives have professional careers. The little wife is still a Norman Rockwell staple of American campaigns. George Bush is not joking when he says more people turn out for his appearances when Barbara Bush accompanies him. Local newspapers are still filled with stories about the wives of public officials visiting hospitals and revealing their favorite recipes.

According to Ruth Mandel of the Center for the American Woman and Politics at Rutgers University, the unspoken rule of political life is that a wife will tend to home and family and be by her husband's side when he runs. Working violates that rule. Being successful in a primarily male profession shatters it, as Hillary Clinton is learning. Most legal experts agree that Clinton took the needed steps to avoid conflicts, by entering into a virtual prenuptial agreement with her firm that anticipated every possible pitfall. She does not represent clients before state agencies, and she refuses her share of the firm's profits that flow from such work. "She's done everything that she can reasonably do and still practice law at a top law firm," says Washington lawyer Marc Miller, author of Politicians and Their Spouses' Careers. "If you dice her practice up into any finer points, it severely limits her opportunities to do what she is eminently qualified to do. It means we don't want wives tiptoeing anywhere near public life." Lawyer Ruth Harkin, wife of Senator Tom Harkin, agrees: "Men don't get this scrutiny, because it is assumed they deserve their success, but somehow a wife doesn't."

Spousal conflict-of-interest charges are usually aimed against wives for a simple reason: few women hold high public office that could place their husbands in jeopardy. When Barbara Morris Lent, wife of New York Congressman Norman Lent, became a lobbyist for NYNEX, she sought assurance from the House ethics committee that her job would not interfere with his voting on communications legislation. When Debbie Dingell, a lobbyist for General Motors, married Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, she switched to an administrative position. "Fortunately," she says, "GM is large enough that I could change jobs."

Successful male spouses, on the other hand, often get the benefit of the doubt, though there are exceptions to the rule. James Schroeder, whose wife Pat, a Colorado Congresswoman, once ran for President, says his legal career has not suffered and he has never been accused of a conflict of interest. But investment banker Richard Blum, husband of former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, says his firm was hampered because he turned down some clients to avoid the appearance of impropriety. "Could I have done better if my wife was home baking cookies?" asks Blum. "I think so." Another Californian, secretary of state March Fong Eu, decided to abandon her race for the U.S. Senate rather than ask her husband to disclose his business holdings. It came down to a choice between her candidacy and her marriage, she said, and she chose her marriage.

Nonprofessional jobs pose as many potential conflicts but tend to attract less criticism. Marilyn Quayle forswore the practice of law because she is the Vice President's wife. But it is hard to believe that she would have been invited to appear on the Today show to promote her turgid novel, Embrace the Serpent, if Dan Quayle were just another golf-loving lawyer from Indiana. Could it be pure coincidence that Greek businessman Basil Tsakos was paying Mark Hatfield's wife $55,000 for choosing fabric and paint chips for his office at the same time the Oregon Senator was urging federal support for Tsakos' $12 billion oil pipeline? Former Washington Mayor Marion Barry's wife Effie hardly got those fur coats and low-interest loans as just another "publicist" in a town where nearly everyone fits that description.

Still, the political wife who scares people most is usually a super success like Hillary Clinton, who ranks among the nation's most powerful lawyers and got better law-school grades than her husband. Perhaps she would be better off just trailing beside her husband, holding the Nancy Reagan gaze. Instead, she is out speaking, spinning and strategizing with as much force as the candidate. When the networks broadcast the Super Tuesday victory celebration at the Chicago Hilton, Hillary Clinton introduced her husband at speech length. She knows the latest take on the GATT talks and Israeli loan guarantees. Her appearances are so devoid of the life-style fluff local papers thrive on that one reporter jokingly complained about "substance abuse."

Although campaign officials say that every time Hillary appears in a state her husband's popularity rises, some of them fear that she is developing a gender gap. Women may be tougher on another woman who seems to have it all: a high-poweredcareer and a family, brains and looks, especially one who has the mansion, the servants and the drivers to make it look easy. Anne Reingold, media director of the Democratic National Committee, has a retrograde explanation: "All the men I know want to sleep with her. All the women want to scratch her eyes out."

Politics is highly susceptible to backlash, and trailblazers do not often win popularity contests. But women who want more choices should think hard about being harsher on Hillary Clinton than they would be on a Barbara Bush. If the only nonconflict profession for a presidential spouse is no profession at all, many people might give up their career so that a spouse could seek office without raising questions of impropriety. Or potential candidates for any high office might not run, rather than ask their mates to give up a rewarding job. If that prospect forces a re-examination of the issue, it may soon be possible for politicians' spouses to work outside the home without arousing suspicions -- even if home is the White House.


TOPICS: Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: eternalvictim; femanazi; hillary; poorhillary; sexgoddess; victim
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-95 next last
I know this is an old article, but the Reingold quote is so priceless, I thought it should be posted on the Internet where it will be google-able by future generations of historians and social scientists.
1 posted on 11/17/2003 7:50:11 AM PST by venizelos
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: venizelos
I just asked my husband, two grown sons, and my daughter's fiance if they want to sleep with Hillary. I think they are planning to slap me silly for asking! LOL
2 posted on 11/17/2003 7:52:23 AM PST by buffyt (Can you say President Hillary? Me Neither!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: venizelos
The thought of ANY creature -- man, woman, or beast -- attempting to have sex with Her Royal Heinous is too much to bear.
3 posted on 11/17/2003 7:53:08 AM PST by quark
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: venizelos

Hillary's just my type!

4 posted on 11/17/2003 7:54:26 AM PST by Petronski (Everybody calm down . . . eat some fruit or something.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: venizelos
"All the men I know want to sleep with her [Hillary Clinton]. All the women want to scratch her eyes out."

Anne Reingold Media director Democratic National Committee 1992

This would Democraps, right?
5 posted on 11/17/2003 7:54:45 AM PST by Conspiracy Guy (I don't think you hread me right. E-talk for Heard and Read.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: venizelos
"All the men I know want to sleep with her [Hillary Clinton]. All the women want to scratch her eyes out."

Actually, I'm a very caring person. I'd like to lay a flower on top of their graves.

6 posted on 11/17/2003 7:55:11 AM PST by SouthernFreebird
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: venizelos
My experience is the opposite. Many women like Hillary, but I don't know one man that doesn't view her as a total witch.
7 posted on 11/17/2003 7:55:36 AM PST by I still care
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: venizelos
Not me! I'm not into beastality.
8 posted on 11/17/2003 7:55:55 AM PST by steveo (Dave??? Dave's knot hear!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: I still care
TRUE! And ONLY DemoncRATS like her! Period!
9 posted on 11/17/2003 7:56:25 AM PST by buffyt (Can you say President Hillary? Me Neither!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: venizelos
Oops! I believe that was a misprint. I believe the actual quote was:

"All the women I know want to sleep with her [Hillary Clinton]. All the men want to scratch her eyes out."

And in 2000, the quote was finally revised to: "Everyone hates the ***ch."

10 posted on 11/17/2003 7:56:48 AM PST by theDentist (Liberals can sugarcoat sh** all they want. I'm not biting.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SouthernFreebird
Ich tanze auf ihr Grab.
11 posted on 11/17/2003 7:57:33 AM PST by buffyt (Can you say President Hillary? Me Neither!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: venizelos
As an ankle and cellulite fetishist, I'd be hard pressed to name a more attractive woman.
12 posted on 11/17/2003 7:58:41 AM PST by GungaLaGunga
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: quark

Why don't we ask the invisible man?

13 posted on 11/17/2003 7:58:47 AM PST by Callahan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: venizelos
Hubba Hubba!!!


14 posted on 11/17/2003 7:59:18 AM PST by presidio9 (a new birth of Freedom)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: theDentist
Margaret Carlson: getting in touch with her inner femme....

Be Seeing You,

Chris

15 posted on 11/17/2003 7:59:34 AM PST by section9 (Major Kusanagi says, "Click on my pic and read my blog, or eat lead!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: SouthernFreebird
I'm a caring person,too--and I would suggest to Ms Reingold that she change her friends---LOL!

By the way, I'll help you with your floral tribute.

16 posted on 11/17/2003 7:59:52 AM PST by basil
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Callahan
Ha ha ha ha!
17 posted on 11/17/2003 8:00:25 AM PST by buffyt (Can you say President Hillary? Me Neither!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: steveo

Saddle up!

18 posted on 11/17/2003 8:01:11 AM PST by Callahan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Callahan
Aackk! Gag! I'd rather stick it in a woodchipper than any of HRH's orifices.
19 posted on 11/17/2003 8:01:42 AM PST by quark
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: quark
Bill feels the same way.
20 posted on 11/17/2003 8:03:44 AM PST by Callahan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-95 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson