Bad Poll Numbers.
A survey conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion that polled 1,000 people found that 69% of Americans believe that Hilary should "never" run for President. Twenty-six percent said she should run "someday." The poll also found that 53% viewed her unfavorably, while 37% had a positive impression of the former First Lady. The results ran along party lines, with 66% of Democrats giving her favorable reviews, compared with only 9% of Republicans and 36% of independents. In addition, 63% of all respondents said they expected Sen. Clinton to serve out her six-year term, as she has promised, and not run for President in 2004, while 28% said they expected her to run for President in two years. A poll in March 2001 found 30% felt she should run for President someday. "There’s been some erosion from numbers that weren’t very good to begin with," said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff. "There’s no groundswell that says there needs to be a third Clinton term." To no one’s surprise, Hillary’s strongest support was in New York, the Northeast, California and among women, minorities and Democrats. "Forty-two percent of Democrats who think she should run someday is something you can build on, but there’s no one holding their breath, either," said Miringoff.
I Shall Return.
In addition to the dismal poll numbers, Peter Paul, the convicted Clinton contributor who helped launch a probe into Hillary Clinton’s campaign financing, recently told the New York Post that says he’ll be out of jail and back in New York City in time to derail any presidential bid by the state’s junior senator. In April, the Post reported how Paul was visited in prison in Brazil by Justice Department officials who wanted to discuss his financial dealings with the Clintons. Paul claims Hillary’s 2000 Senate campaign reported only $500,000 of the $1.9 million he spent on a star-studded Hollywood fund-raiser he staged for her in August 2000. Paul says he’s upset that Hillary lied about his contributions and wants her held accountable. She returned a $2,000 contribution Paul made directly to her when it came to light that he’d earlier served time for cocaine possession, among other charges. Paul has since filed a lawsuit against the Clintons seeking to recoup his costs from the benefit. Paul told the Post, "I will be back soon, and then I will have my day in court with the Clintons and a Hollywood A-list of witnesses that knew exactly what my contributions and plans were with the Clintons." Paul also said that his dealings with Hillary make the Robert Torricelli-David Chang scandal look like peanuts.
Hillary Votes for War.
At 1:15 a.m. Friday, October 11, Sen. Clinton joined 76 of her Senate colleagues in voting to give President Bush authority to use military force against Iraq. She had avoided speaking out publicly on Iraq, even as her husband criticized Bush’s policy. A few moments before the vote, Hillary announced that it was the most difficult decision she has ever faced. "This is a very difficult vote. This is probably the hardest decision I have ever had to make-any vote that may lead to war should be hard-but I cast it with conviction." She said that her decision was influenced by her husband’s two terms in the White House and a desire to show American unity and telegraph to the armed forces that the nation stands behind them. "I want this President, or any future President, to be in the strongest possible position to lead our country in the United Nations or in war, said Hillary. She also urged the President to use the vote to press the UN for tougher inspection programs. Hillary noted that the President’s speech in Cincinnati a few days earlier showed that the administration was willing to accept narrower powers than it first sought. Finally, she said that she would hold Bush to his pledge to avert war, and that support from Congress for Bush’s resolution "makes success in the United Nations more likely, and therefore, war less likely." Meanwhile, dozens of anti-war protesters demonstrated in front of Sen. Clinton’s Manhattan office, with five of the protesters even staging a peaceful protest for nine hours inside her office.
Give the People What They Want.
According to Hillary’s publishers, the senator has still not penned her final thoughts on her husband’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Although progress on her memoirs is running smoothly, and a publication date of June 2003 is predicted, any chapters on the Lewinsky affair are still under wraps. "We have not yet seen her drafts of the later years of the presidency," said publisher Carolyn Reidy. "But she wants to give her version of those events." Ms. Reidy emphasized that Sen. Clinton would certainly not "duck the issue" of her husband’s tawdry affair with a 21-year old intern and his subsequent impeachment for perjury and obstruction of justice.
