Hillary, Go Back to Arkansas

Most of the country now agrees that Bill Clinton is contemptible. It took a cigar and an intern before this realization, so obvious to many since the New Hampshire revelations of 1992, finally managed to penetrate the public consciousness. Now, as she ponders a run for the Senate, I wonder, what will it take before the people of this land come to the same rather obvious conclusion about Hillary?

There was a time when Mrs. Clinton was held in appropriately low esteem. When she first emerged onto the national stage, many were understandably put off by her presumptuous assumption of authority. She was widely criticized for her inflated conception of a First Lady's proper role, and her attempts to transform that unelected, ceremonial position into a policy pulpit were met with great resistance. Still, she persisted undeterred, convinced that America thirsted for her political leadership. They did not.

The disastrous fate of her comically ill-conceived health care reform crusade sent her approval ratings into the gutter. Her much publicized role in the callous firings of the civil servants in the White House Travel Office didn't help. Halfway through President Clinton's first term, it seemed that Hillary might finally stop meddling where she didn't belong. She retreated from the spotlight, changed her haircut and wrote a book about children and villages. For a while, she was fairly benign.

Then her husband decided to have an affair. Hillary, as she has throughout their marriage, stood stoically by her philandering mate. She went on TV to talk about vast conspiracies. When she could no longer deny the obvious, she went on TV to grimace somberly. Now, she is a hero. Now, she is being hailed as a political force in her own right. She should really just go back to Arkansas.

Most of Hillary's political capital can be traced to her status as a feminist icon. Why she is revered as such is entirely inexplicable. She is an intelligent enough individual (holding degrees from Wellesley and the Yale Law School) but cannot boast any exceptional achievements of her own. Her entire career has been derivative of her husband's.

Back in Little Rock she was employed at the Rose Law Firm as a rainmaker. A rainmaker is someone who, due to their social status, can attract big-name clients. Hillary's status was based solely on her husband's rise through the Arkansas political establishment. Incidentally, while at the Rose firm, she used her time productively, managing to mire herself in a number of highly questionable savings and loans deals. You may recall that during a federal investigation a few years back, the records of one of these deals mysteriously surfaced in her domain of the White House residence.

Her foray into the national political scene has, quite obviously, been merely a by-product of her marriage. And, she has hadn't even used that happy coincidence to particularly impressive effect. Granted, she has championed a few pet causes, but certainly with no greater success than previous First Ladies and certainly with much grander failure. It seems that her only accomplishment of note has been her ability to endure Bill's chronic infidelity. Why is this praiseworthy?

Most would characterize the regularity of Bill's dalliances as a form of emotional abuse. Usually women are encouraged to leave relationships wherein they are continually subjected to such neglect and humiliation. Yet, Hillary is lauded for putting up with it. In 1992, she said that she was no Tammy Wynette, that she wasn't just standing by her man. She seemed to be implying that such blind loyalty was a bad thing. But looking back over the past year, one must conclude that Hillary has taken blind loyalty to new heights.

Many, especially in the press, apparently feel sympathy for Hillary. She has been heralded as a tragic martyr, a victim of scandal. It is argued that she may be trapped in her marriage, that she sticks around out of duty to the country. Unfortunately, according to most sources, Bill has been consistently straying since their law school days. A more likely explanation for her current calculus, and her calculus all along, may be that she is simply unwilling to give up the fruits of her association with her husband. After all, the White House is a nice place to live.

In the past week the possibility has been raised that Hillary will use her status as First Lady to catapult her into the Senate. The New York Democratic Party is actively courting her. They have decided to ignore the fact that she has never actually lived in New York, has no direct familiarity with its needs and has never even formulated an independent political agenda. New Yorkers really liked that vanity Fair photo spread and so polls show that Hillary has the best shot of defeating the likely Republican nominee, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

If Hillary does decide to run, and once the campaign actually begins, hopefully a fair evaluation of the issues will counter her celebrity appeal. Still, it would be better for everyone if, when her husband's term is over, Hillary headed home, got a normal job, sought some counseling and strongly considered getting a divorce. She has as much a right to personal happiness as anyone, but she has done nothing to earn an honored place in our public life.

Noah D. Oppenheim '00 is a social studies concentrator in Adams House. His column appears on alternate Fridays.