HILLARY CLINTON'S BOOK (editorial published the day she visited

Everything has a shelf life. From books to politicians, public interest lasts only so long. Which is why Monday will mark the start of an interesting, and possibly predictive, period of assessment.

Monday is the day a book, "Living History," written by a politician, Hillary Clinton, hits the stores. In its national shelf life may lie some indication of how much of the same remains for the junior senator from New York.

Has Clinton become just another politician for most of the country or does she still command the undiminished loyalty of millions who liked her ideas and were outraged at her treatment as first lady? Equally as indicative, does she still stir the implacable animosities of millions of others who were scandalized by her influence over public policy and dead sure that she was getting away with something?

The book is said to deal with much more than what now seems like the long-ago Lewinsky scandal. For better or worse, though, that is the aspect most likely to draw broad reader interest - assuming, of course, that readers, more than four years after impeachment, and living under the continuing influence of Sept. 11, Afghanistan and Iraq, are still interested at all. Maybe they think they have better things to think about now.

Nevertheless, the shelf life of both the book and the author will almost certainly be influenced by how candid readers perceive Clinton to be. Anyone could understand a wife's decision not to deal publicly with the pain of betrayal, (anyone but her publishers, that is), but once Clinton decided to include it, she had an obligation to readers to be honest. Was she?

Clinton writes that she believed her husband was being railroaded by political opponents until the moment he confessed to her seven months later, admitting he had had sexual relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. "I could hardly breathe," she writes in the book. "Gulping for air, I started crying and yelling at him, "What do you mean? What are you saying? Why did you lie to me?' "

That could be true. Humans have a great capacity for self-delusion, especially when its alternative is public humiliation and a life left in ruins. But with Bill Clinton's long history of womanizing, with 1992 campaign squads dedicated to suppressing "bimbo eruptions," the allegation was never implausible.

Even sympathizers felt sure something was up right from the evening the story broke. Having previously consented to a television interview by PBS's Jim Lehrer, the president bobbed and weaved like a punch-drunk prize fighter, insisting in his emblematic way that, "There is no improper relationship," and "There is not a sexual relationship." Around the country, antennas went up.

Perhaps an anxious or loving spouse wouldn't make the connection - or wouldn't want to. But Hillary Clinton, a graduate of Yale Law School, was and is a formidable intellect. Not much gets by her. If her husband's infidelity did, as her book contends, it was out of character.

How much all that matters is hard to say. In most ways, of course, the Lewinsky scandal is yesterday's news. The world has turned over many times since those besotted months, and the former first lady, through a combination of celebrity, connections, hard work and ideas, has convincingly reinvented herself as a senator from New York.

But if she harbors national ambitions, as is widely thought, then the book may tell a tale. If interest is high and readers find it credible, it's easy to see stock in her future rising. But if the book quickly finds its way to the bargain bin (the book publishing industry is already in the doldrums), or if readers believe they're being fed a less-than-honest accounting for their money, then the verdict on the senator's ambitions may be that those aspirations, too, are yesterday's news.

POLITICS' 'ODD COUPLE' PRESSES ON LINK
The Buffalo News
Robert J. McCarthy
May 7, 2003
     Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds. They couldn't be further apart in their ideologies, but then, politics does make strange bedfellows.
     Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton spent much of Friday in Buffalo answering questions about "Living History," the new autobiography dealing with the "highs and lows" of her life and times in the White House.
     But she also provided half of another story based on an unlikely but strengthening political relationship with Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds of Clarence - one that might borrow the title of "The Odd Couple."
     He's conservative Republican; she's liberal Democrat.
     He headed the 2000 Senate campaign of Rick A. Lazio; she sent the former congressman back to Long Island.
     She has emerged as one of Washington's most prolific Democratic fund-raisers; he is chairman of the national Republican Congressional Committee, and just set a record for raising campaign money for GOP House candidates.
     Though the two stand at opposite ends of the political spectrum, they stood together at an Adam's Mark Hotel podium Friday to jointly receive an "Igniting Ideas" award from the University at Buffalo for obtaining about $9 million in federal seed money for Buffalo's emerging bioinformatics research industry.
     And while both have been criticized for practicing partisanship, the senator mentioned as presidential material and the congressman viewed as a potential speaker of the House both seem to recognize that working together on Western New York issues makes for good politics.
     "I want to salute my colleague Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton," Reynolds said in accepting the award. "Anything that could bring together a kid from Springville and a former first lady of the United States can't help but succeed."
     The senator acknowledges a professional relationship with a sense of collegiality.
     "Once the election is over, if you want to be effective for your constituents or in Washington, it's time to work together in a bipartisan fashion," she said during an interview.
     "We respect each other," she added. "And he makes me laugh. He's got a great personality."
Students of politics
     From his earliest days in politics, Reynolds has been known for developing relationships with Democratic colleagues in the Erie County Legislature or the Assembly. And both he and Clinton could be called genuine students of politics - he as a onetime Erie County Republican chairman and Assembly minority leader, she as the alter ego to a young Arkansan who went all the way to the White House.
     Details of her relationship with former President Bill Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky scandal have dominated headlines and the airwaves in recent days in anticipation of Monday's release of the book she was paid $8 million to write. It was no exception Friday.
     She called writing memoirs a "long tradition" of first ladies, and acknowledged that revealing some of her feelings was painful.
     "I am a private person, and it was difficult, but unfortunately, what should have remained private in my life was made public," she said. "When I sat down to write about those years, I felt I had to write about the many highs and wonderful times as well as the difficult ones."
     Reynolds said he'd like to get the book complete with an autograph from his Senate colleague, whom he said he met for the first time in early 2001 without even a reference to the Lazio campaign he headed.
     "We just moved forward," he said, pointing to cooperation between them on federal participation in the West Valley Nuclear Demonstration Project.
Backing a judge
     Earlier this year, Clinton and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, another Democrat with whom Reynolds works closely, testified on behalf of the nomination of Judge Richard C. Wesley of the state Court of Appeals to the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
     The move was considered significant because of fierce opposition among some Senate Democrats to several of President Bush's judicial nominations. But Wesley encountered no such difficulties.
     "Certainly both senators knew of my keen interest in seeing a longtime jurist and longtime friend of mine go to the U.S. Court of Appeals," Reynolds said.
     Late last year, Clinton submitted a videotape to a Reynolds "roast" at the Buffalo Niagara Marriott, which drew lots of laughs - and $60,000 for the Erie County Republican Party.
     More recently, Rahm Emmanuel - a former senior aide to President Clinton and now a Democratic congressman from Chicago - met with Reynolds at Clinton's request to discuss legislation and get to know each other.
     "I find that we've got a working relationship on things that are important to Western New York," Reynolds said.
Far apart on some issues
     It's not always milk-and-cookies time for Clinton and Reynolds. The senator went out of her way to criticize the Bush administration and Republicans on Friday, telling an awards luncheon sponsored by the YWCA in the Buffalo Convention Center that the Bush tax cut enthusiastically embraced by Reynolds was "unfair" and called on the GOP to consider new child deductions proposed by Democrats.
     "I was just outraged," she said. "We have these huge tax cuts that favor the wealthy at the expense of working people and at the expense of middle-class people."
     And they remain far apart on core issues such as abortion rights and the federal government's role in a host of programs. Clinton acknowledged criticism of her difficulties in fulfilling some campaign promises, but said Republican policies that wiped out the budget surpluses and created increasing deficits have hampered her abilities.
     "There are areas where the economic policies of this administration are not in the best interest of Western New York," she said. "So that is where we have to agree to disagree."
     Still, she pointed to the success so far of efforts such as bioinformatics, and says there's room even for rock-ribbed Republicans like Reynolds and left-leaning Democrats like her to cooperate. She noted that the project's job creation potential is so great that leaders from all facets of Western New York have joined together in support.
     One of those noticing is UB President William R. Greiner, who said Reynolds' rise in the House Republican ranks and Clinton's role as "the most popular and visible spokesman for her party" make them odd but effective allies.
     "These two folks can come together and cross party lines and work together for the advancement of Western New York," he said. "That's the example we all have to follow."

AS CLINTON'S MEMOIR NEARS, ITS EFFECT IS AN OBJECT OF DEBATE LINK
The Buffalo News
Douglas Turner, News Washington Bureau Chief
May 7, 2003

     WASHINGTON - No matter what their political stripe, commentators seem to think that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's upcoming biography can help her in the long run.
     "This is a big hurdle for her," said Molly Hite, a Cornell University English professor. "How she handles her husband's infidelities (in the book) is going to be as important as any policy decisions she makes."
     Judging from what she has seen in the press and on the Internet, Hite said people here and overseas "seem to like the book."
     "From what I'm reading," she said, "people are very positive about the way she gauged that narrow line between being perceived as too assertive and not being assertive enough."
     A Marist College poll released Thursday said voters in New York State seemed to split three ways on what prompted the New York Democrat to issue "Living History."
     Statewide, 27 percent think she released it to tell her side of the story of her days as first lady; 33 percent think she is doing it to make money; and 28 percent think she is setting the stage for a presidential run.
     "I don't find those reasons to be mutually exclusive," said Hite.
     Toni Michelle Travis, a specialist on women's and racial issues at George Mason University, says the book "could make her look more human, more loyal."
     "And this could help her with a segment of the population," Travis said. "To others, her loyalty to her husband might appear calculating.
     "It depends on who's making these judgments," said Travis, a professor of government.
     A Democratic mainstay, former House Doorkeeper James T. Molloy, predicted the volume would develop "sympathy for her, like the book will make her a martyr."
     "You'll feel sorry for her," said Molloy, who was raised in Buffalo but lives in suburban Maryland. "Everybody knows the other side; now it's her chance to tell her side."
     Even a former officeholder who describes himself as "the token Republican in the Canisius College political science deparment," Kevin Hardwick, thinks "Living History" can help Clinton. The controversy over President Clinton's liaison with a former intern, Monica Lewinsky, was the first lady's "finest hour," he said.
     Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, R-Clarence, said a lot "depends on how candid she is" in the book.
     "I'll read the book to see if I'm in it," said Reynolds, who has often complimented Clinton's senatorial work ethic. "But I don't believe I'm in the book."
     It is not uncommon for political figures with national ambitions to write biographies or autobiographies. But the results are hard to predict, Reynolds said. John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage" was helpful, but Sen. Joseph Biden wrote an autobiography that backfired, Reynolds said.
     When Biden's book came out 15 years ago, the Delaware Democrat was accused of plagiarizing large portions of speeches made by a British parliamentarian, Labourite Neil Kinnock.
     Rep. Jack F. Quinn, R-Hamburg, said he is going to a book party being given for Clinton in suburban Maryland on June 17. Quinn said he is buying two copies: one for his wife and another for his mother.
     "The book sets up an opportunity to clear the air and put some things behind her," Quinn said. "And I don't blame her."
     Interviews with Buffalo Niagara booksellers indicated the large national chains have made fairly heavy preorders for "Living History," while small independents are less interested.
     The Washington Post reported Thursday that the memoir ranks second on the best-seller lists at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, behind "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," due out June 21.
     "Living History" is out Monday. Clinton will host a book signing Monday morning at Barnes & Noble's mid-Manhattan store.
     An independent bookstore in North Buffalo, Talking Leaves, has put in for a "modest order" of a dozen copies, according to owner Jonathon Welch. He said the store specializes in literature, not politics.
     Debbie Halloran of the Barnes & Noble outlet on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst said she expects "a large order" to be sent there by the company's warehouse.
     "We haven't had a lot of buzz about it yet," she said.
     Waldenbooks at the Walden Galleria "will get quite a few copies," said Assistant Manager Vivian Albert.
     "We do have some copies on reservation, because there has been a lot of buzz about it," Albert said.
     However, the University at Buffalo Bookstore has ordered only three or four copies, according to its trade manager, Bruce Brim.
     "We won't order any unless we get a special order," said Cheryl Wagner, assistant manager of the Center Bookstore in downtown Buffalo. "We're a specifically Christian bookstore, and we don't sell a lot of biographies."
     Sen. Charles E. Schumer said, "I'll probably get a copy." Democratic Rep. Louise M. Slaughter of Fairport declined to comment on the book.
     And comedian Mark Russell, whose nationally syndicated shows appear on WNED-TV, says he has been reading excerpts published by the Associated Press.
     Excerpt: " "During my Senate campaign, Bill and I were talking about matters other than our relationship. We both began to relax.'
     "It was their intimate pleasure of assessing the Polish vote in Buffalo," Russell said.
     "I think I can come up with a better title than "Living History,' " Russell added. " "Bill Is History' would have sold more copies."
     Hardwick, a Republican candidate for the County Legislature, reflected on the cultural change since Kennedy wrote "Profiles in Courage" as a preamble to his presidential run.
     Now "it's not courage we want to know about," he said. "Everybody's looking for the intimate details of her life in the White House."

Washington Bureau Assistant Wendy Eichorst contributed to this report.

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