AmericaBlog posted a piece a few minutes ago linking to a Slate.com article alluding to the fact that Bill Clinton has continued to have numerous affairs even in recent years.
"Slate just published a piece about a new book about Bill Clinton, called "The Clinton Years." Slate reports that the book includes an "old rumor" about Bill Clinton continuing his philandering. While the Clinton campaign has done a good job of embarrassing the press, and the Obama campaign, away from mentioning these rumors, the Republicans won't be so reticent in the fall. To paraphrase Clinton surrogate Evan Bayh, this is the kind of thing that Swift Boats are made of.
This is the first time a lot of people are hearing about this particular rumor. (Though Joe and I knew about this particular rumor a good year ago. We also know far more details about the rumor than Slate has revealed. But Joe and I chose, until now, not to report on it because, well, we still find ourselves pulling punches for Hillary's scandals when nobody on her team pulls punches for Obama's.)"
continued....
"Because this rumor is new for most people, for most of you, that means this rumor, this baggage, isn't "vetted," to use Hillary's vernacular. It's not good, and if it's true (hell, even if it isn't true), it could doom our chances against McCain in the fall were Hillary to be the nominee. Why? Because were Hillary to somehow become our party's nominee, the Republican 527s, and GOP state parties like Kentucky and North Carolina, would ensure that we spend the entire fall discussing who Bill Clinton is sleeping with, and whether we're going to have more Monicas when he's back in the White House, rather than discussing why John McCain is too old and too conservative to be president. Just imagine the jokes Republicans, and the late night shows, would make about Hillary and that 3am phone call now that this is out there."
This was a roomer that I've actually heard from friends of mine in the higher-ups of both the Obama and Edwards campaigns. From what I have heard not only did Edwards and Obama say that they would never use this information NPR apparently also had this information and said that they would ONLY go with the story in the event that HRC became the official nominee - potentially swinging the entire race for McCain....
I find this all very interesting.
I wasn't going to post this blog because I figured smarter better bloggers here would be on it before I got here - but not yet! So here is the info.
I don't know how I feel about this. I've been a very very supportive HRC fan - but there is no way in hell I'd support her over Obama. I think she's a good Senator from New York and I will always continue to support her in that capacity while I write my checks and do my blogs for Obama. I never would wish this kind of thing on her and I'm torn over whether it should be used as political baggage for anyone.
The facts however, in the real world, are that it will be used against her.
As America Blog says - HRC has spent the last several months talking about how she has been vetted. That this stuff with Rev. Wright is just the tip of the sword for Obama. That there might be more about him we don't know. But that she's been around for 16 years and we know it all.
This is the first indicater that in fact we don't know it all. That there is so much more that we don't know and so much more that could sink an election for us in November.
Further:
"From Slate:
Pages 103 and 104: Clinton and Ron Burkle, the supermarket magnate, have been buddies since 1992. Felsenthal repeats the old rumor that "Burkle and Clinton are ... partners in philandering." She also quotes an unnamed source alleging that "Burkle and Clinton spend time together doing things that Hillary would not want made public" and reports that Burkle calls his private plane "Fuck Jet."
Actually, the The Huffington Post, and the New York Times, seemed to be alluding to something similar a while back:
The president's relationship with Ron Burkle has been the subject of widespread speculation primarily concerning Bill Clinton's private life. Over a year ago, Patrick Healy wrote in the New York Times:
Mr. Clinton is rarely without company in public, yet the company he keeps rarely includes his wife. Nights out find him zipping around Los Angeles with his bachelor buddy, Ronald W. Burkle, or hitting parties and fund-raisers in Manhattan.
Again, I'm not sure how I feel about this - interested to see what others think.
UPDATE: And clarification - I really don't think issues that are personal EVER should be an issue ... ever.... ever... but I think the reality is that they are and its hard to stay away from things like this.