Sex claims divide Dems
WASHINGTON A torrent of sexual abuse allegations against powerful figures in American politics and media has reignited the defining political fight of the 1990s. But this time, the battle is being waged within the ranks of Democrats and their allies, including leaders of the feminist movement.
A growing number now say they were wrong to have so stridently defended former president Bill Clinton against the women who over the years accused him of offences that ranged from groping to exposing his genitals to rape.
The uncomfortable question is whether Democrats then were guilty of the sin they accuse Republicans of committing now by continuing to support President Donald Trump and Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore, despite allegations of sexual offences. Were they also putting partisanship and their desire to hold on to power above the principles they claim to hold dear?
A remarkable exchange of fire began on Friday when Senator Kirsten Gillibrand – Hillary Clinton’s successor as New York senator, a staunch backer of her presidential campaign and a talked-about presidential possibility – told the New York Times that by today’s standards, the ‘‘appropriate response’’ for Bill Clinton would have been to resign when his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky was revealed in 1998.
That brought a retort from longtime Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines on Twitter, in which he dismissed the president’s affair with a subordinate as a ‘‘consensual’’ sex act.
Reines lobbed an additional shot at Gillibrand: ‘‘Over 20 yrs you took the Clintons’ endorsements, money, and seat. Hypocrite. Interesting strategy for 2020 primaries. Best of luck.’’
In a radio interview yesterday, Hillary Clinton deflected a request for a response to Gillibrand’s tweet: ‘‘I don’t exactly know what she was trying to say.’’
During the 1990s, the allegations about the president’s behaviour went far beyond the Lewinsky affair, which led to Bill Clinton’s impeachment after he lied about it under oath during a deposition in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones. She claimed the state’s then-governor summoned her in 1991 to a hotel room, where he dropped his pants and asked for oral sex.
‘‘I wish I had done more to be supportive of her,’’ said Patricia Ireland, longtime president of the National Organisation for Women, who is now a lawyer in Florida.
‘‘For Paula Jones, there were nice distinctions that people made. She didn’t work for him, he didn’t have the power to hire or fire her. But that ignores the reality that he was a very powerful man.’’
Clinton settled Jones’s lawsuit in November 1998 for US$850,000, acknowledging no wrongdoing and offering no apology.
His defenders argued that his infidelities were a private family REUTERS matter, and that his pro-feminist agenda on various issues had to be protected. But the first line of defence was to attack his accusers with lacerating insults that now seem not only sexist but elitist. James Carville, who had been the top strategist for Clinton’s 1992 campaign, said: ‘‘If you drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you’ll find.’’
In retrospect, would he make that comment again? ‘‘I don’t know,’’ said Carville, who this weekend is joining the Clintons and the alumni of that campaign in Little Rock, where they are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their victory in an election where speculation about the candidate’s sex life and the state of his marriage became major topics.
Carville said he had been referring to Gennifer Flowers, who came forward during the 1992 campaign claiming that she had had a 12-year affair with Clinton. She reportedly was paid US$100,000 by the Star, a supermarket tabloid, to tell her story.
Both Clintons denied it was true, prompting Flowers to hold a news conference at which she played tapes of her phone conversations with the Arkansas governor.
‘‘There is no doubt the ground has shifted between that time and now,’’ Carville said. ‘‘There’s no question this is a different environment, probably for the better.’’
Others from Clinton’s orbit in those days say he was punished heavily, by becoming only the second president to be impeached. They also point to the fact that some accusers aligned themselves with right-wing groups that were determined to destroy him politically.
Republicans, meanwhile, are doing their best to add to the Democrats’ unease, which grew with the allegation this week by broadcaster Leeann Tweeden that Senator Al Franken forcibly kissed and groped her while the two were travelling overseas on a USO trip in 2006. Franken has apologised for his actions.
The issue of Clinton’s alleged sexual abuse also surfaced during his wife’s campaign last year to become the first female US president. She has long positioned herself as a champion of women’s issues. Her adversaries on the right, however, saw her as her husband’s enabler and shield. Washington Post