[Billthedrill]

The GOP made the mistake of focusing on the whole sexual pecadillo aspect.

With respect, that wasn't the case. The media made sure that all the emphasis was on that aspect of Clinton's wrongdoing - remember "it's all about sex?" - because it was easiest to defend. But in fact they did so in an effort to cover up the other, less defensible aspects of his administration, and quite successfully, too. What that allowed was the sort of moral equivalencey encapsulated in the statement "they all do it" and validated by all the dirt they could dig up on GOP sexual pecadillos, which were held to an even higher standard than that of the Dems because they were held to be hyprocritical. A nice game, well played, and successful because of the nearly monolithic support Clinton enjoyed among the print and broadcast media.

[ProudGenXLibertarian]

Im not saying that I agree with it, Im just saying that's the impression of many Americans.

[an amused spectator]

Exactly, BTD. In the same manner as the "government shutdown" became the fault of the Republicans (and not Clinton, who was the one who wouldn't sign the funding bill), the issue with Clinton became "just about sex".

The China stuff got deflected by the "conservative media" (what a rip-snorting laff that liberals are trying to sell that pile of pony-poop!), who focused on the easy issue, as you said.