America's Fun Couple: The Clintons

By Clarice Feldman

Vote for Hillary and it'll be Jerry Springer everyday.

(CNSNews.com) - More than six years after the Clintons left the White House, nearly half of the respondents in a new poll - 45 percent - worry that if they return, they could bring "high levels of corruption" with them.

A Zogby International poll released Thursday in Washington highlights in particular concerns about former President Bill Clinton's ability to "behave honestly in the White House" if his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) is elected president in 2008.

The poll results indicate that scandals which dogged the Clinton administration remain relevant to a significant number of voters.

The 45 percent figure would likely be even higher, said Tom Fitton, president of conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, if elected officials and the media were more willing to ask tough questions about numerous ethical quandaries that surrounded the Clinton administration and the then-first lady's role in those issues.

And from the always risible Editor& Publisher comes news that Bill has ordered his presidential library staff to work on a secret two year vetting of himself:

"The team conducted a painstaking reexamination of all the well-worn issues from Clinton's presidency, poring over trial transcripts, internal White House documents, notes, and public and private correspondence, searching for any overlooked information that could be used to give new life to old embarrassments. Perhaps more important, the researchers covered Clinton's postpresidential history too, with a muckraker's eye, including the rumors about his private life that inevitably trail him.

"All but a handful of Clinton's staff and friends were kept in the dark about the vetting process, though two who did know about it confirmed its existence to me. Neither would describe how the results were disseminated or who has access to them now. But the purpose of the exercise is clear enough: Bill Clinton wants to know what everybody else could know about Bill Clinton. Knowing that, we can safely conclude this, too: Bill Clinton hopes to play a major role in his wife's campaign."

Ambinder doesn't know exactly what the researchers found and speculates that Hillary faces the tough choice of embracing the "two-for-one pitch" or the "seen but not heard" idea. He reveals: "No one close to the Clintons has any doubt that Bill, for a host of reasons, will comply with his wife's wishes, whatever they may be."

The "seen but not heard" pitch seems possible only if he spends the next two years locked in a closet with his mouth duct taped. I think they ought instead to run on high drama of lowlifes theme.