They (the Clinton's) counted on the media coverage to shield them against the snarky comments against anyone rejecting the doings in the White House and Bill's penchant for going after any and all females, "eight to eighty, crippled or crazy," as they used to say.
When the Paula Jones story first surfaced, part of the story was that after the encounter with Bill Clinton she said she wanted to be his girlfriend. Of course that made her look very untrustworthy. It turned out that the quote was a complete fabrication by a Clinton flunky.