FIRST we had the presidential election that wouldn't end. We got through that though, and, right on schedule, inaugurated the 43rd president of the United States. But now we have another presidential conflict: the ex-president who refuses to ride off into the sunset.
Bill Clinton's presidency was marked by scandal and behavior that, Clinton supporter or not, most Americans found less than exemplary. However, Clinton always managed to climb off of the tabloid covers and back into the country's good graces with a peculiar mix of charm and a strong economy.
Clinton survived impeachment better than anyone could have expected and held on to a high approval rating. His wife was, and is, full of political ambition. The logical thing for the former president to do would have been to quietly ride out his term and slip into the lucrative role of public speaker and party fundraiser occupied by most former presidents.
But Clinton just can't avoid scandal, or maybe he just can't let go of the media attention that follows an American president. By granting several controversial eleventh hour pardons, Clinton grabbed the national spotlight even as his official political role ended. Most former presidents retain some measure of media attention for the rest of their lives. The problem with the attention Clinton is attracting is that it benefits his opponents.
Clinton's controversial pardons, particularly that of Marc Rich - whose wife contributed more than $1 million to the Democratic Party, Clinton's presidential library and Hilary Clinton's senate campaign - have garnered the former president more than his fair share of headlines.
Not surprisingly, this amount of negative publicity has hurt Clinton's reputation. The number of Americans who held a favorable view of Clinton dropped from 56 percent on Jan. 20 before Clinton left office to 48 percent by Feb. 14. What is more unexpected is that the most recent Clinton scandal may have improved President Bush's popularity. In the same span as above, the percent of Americans with a favorable view of Bush rose from 55 percent to 65 percent. Bush's popularity is growing not only among fellow Republicans, but among women, Al Gore supporters, Ralph Nader supporters and those making less than $15,000 a year.
Although it's unlikely that all of this increase is due to Clinton, the former president's negative attention seems to have made an impact. Republican strategist Greg Mueller's take on Clinton's relation to the Republican party is that "those Republicans were right when they impeached him and were chastised for it, that Bill Clinton can't stay away from scandal and impropriety ... It's icing on the cake" ("Bush status, image grow - if only by comparison," Detroit Free Press, Feb. 23). If this is many Americans' reaction, that maybe the Republicans were right about Clinton, it is logical that, by comparison, the current Republican president's popularity would rise. Although some Republicans are dismayed that the Clinton coverage has pushed back stories on Bush, many hope Bush can use the situation to bolster his popularity and push his proposed tax cuts through.
Republicans aren't the only ones taking note of the negative attention Clinton is attracting. Common Cause, a liberal group supporting campaign finance reform, sees potential for advancing their goals in the Clinton scandal. Speculation that Clinton based several of his last-second pardons on financial contributions provides powerful ammunition to those who support an overhaul of the current campaign finance policy.
Clinton has also, possibly irreparably, damaged his role as Democratic Party fundraiser. Candidates will try to distance themselves from the Clinton name. Many will be hesitant to use his endorsement while his popularty declines. Evidence of this can be seen already. In a recent statement, the financial institution of Morgan-Stanley-Dean-Witter apologized to clients for inviting Clinton to speak at a recent conference.
Even Democrats are disavowing Clinton in an attempt to distance themselves and avoid an associative drop in popularity. In the same article, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) called the pardon of Marc Rich "just abusive." Todd Jones, a former Clinton-appointed U.S. attorney in Minneapolis, said that it was "baffling and very troubling" that the former president commuted the prison sentence of a cocaine trafficker. This pardon is also clouded by the fact that Hugh Rodham, Hillary Clinton's brother, aided Rich's quest for clemency. Former President Jimmy Carter called Clinton's pardons "one of his most serious mistakes" and said the pardon of Rich was "disgraceful."
Clinton has managed to immerse himself in yet another scandal. The difference this time is that he might not be able to get out of it. The ramifications of his pardons are farther reaching than he may have suspected. The best thing to do now is to recede from public life.
(Megan Moyer's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at mmoyer@cavalierdaily.com.)
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