Is Bill Clinton relevant this election?

Jeanette

Tue, Oct 11 2016, 8:38 am

Do you think bill Clinton is or should be relevant this election?

I can see it both ways.

Irrelevant, he is not running, his wife should not be held responsible for his record.

Relevant: double standard. If you argue that Donald trump is disqualified because of the way he treats women, then you must say that bill Clinton was also disqualified. This is more of an argument to those who defended Clinton in the 90s and said we have bigger things to worry about.

Relevant not so much because of what bill Clinton did but what his wife did or didn't do towards his victims. This does speak directly to her character and seems hypocritical for her to call "Shame" on trump.

I'm not voting for trump for many other reasons but this is why I don't think the tape story is really such a deal breaker.

youngishbear

Tue, Oct 11 2016, 9:12 am

I was too young to vote for Bill, and I probably wouldn't have if his scandals were made public before elections (not sure what the chronology was.)

Then again, I wouldn't judge Hillary's angry response to the pain and humiliation she must have felt. It is completely normal in such times to try to blame external factors and try to keep the family together by all means necessary. To her, the other women were the problem, and she was the victim. She didn't see them as victims. I think dragging her through the mud for that horrible time in her life is disgusting and cruel.

Trump on the other hand is disgusting himself. I can't comprehend the support he enjoys especially on here. I really want to understand why people are willing to look past his obvious mental/emotional issues, probable personality disorder, just because "Hillary lies." Of course she does! All politicians lie and try to cover up their indiscretions and mistakes. And everyone makes mistakes! No one is perfect. If we would wait for perfection we would never have leaders.

In 30 years of public service she has been investigated forward and backwards and upside down, and the worst they found were emails that she didn't treat with enough care - when this entire method of communication has not been around long enough for others to have made similar mistakes before her. And they would have! Cyber security is a huge problem all over, and we only began to grasp it over the last few years.

I would grant Trump the same permission slip to make mistakes and try to cover them up, if he were sane and a decent human being. Since he isn't, I get increasingly more appalled at the way his supporters let him get away with lies because "Hillary is worse". Why? Why do they hate her so? I just don't get it. It goes beyond policy, it's personal and it's visceral.

Fox

Tue, Oct 11 2016, 9:35 am

Agree 100 percent with Jeanette.

One of my reactions to the leaked DNC emails is that I feel a lot more positively toward HRC and a lot more negatively toward the leadership of the Democratic Party.

As I've said in other posts, I follow quite a few right-wing conservative twitter accounts and websites, and it's the double-standard that's drumming up a lot of the more extreme Trump enthusiasm.

Those of us who are old enough can recall Watergate, when Democrats were screaming, "Nixon lied to the American people! How can he be President?!" When all was said and done, no one had an answer, and President Nixon resigned.

Twenty-plus years later, many of the same Democrats were saying about President Clinton, "Well, yes, he lied both publicly and under oath and defamed a young woman, but it was just about s-x, and that's really a private matter. It doesn't disqualify him from serving as President."

Another 20 years or so, and given the opportunity to vilify an arguably dislikeable opponent for a vulgar conversation, s-xual wrongdoing is now relevant to one's fitness for the office.

If Donna Brazile were to call me and say, "Fox, what do you suggest?" I'd tell them to treat the Trump tape like an unexploded IED. Back away slowly and don't go there. Heck, I'd even have Clinton make a gracious statement about how we all make mistakes or whatever. In essence, she can trade one vulgar tape for a pass on an unsecured email server in the minds of undecided voters or tepid Trump voters. Ooh, and if she can somehow work in a few words of sympathy for Melania, it could position her as more stand-by-your-cheatin'-man than vengeful harpy. What I wouldn't give to write that speech!

Alas, Brazile has yet to contact me.

SixOfWands

Tue, Oct 11 2016, 10:10 am

Jeanette wrote:

I'm going to ignore what you actually asked, and answer what I think you should have. Just pretend its a presidential debate.

I don't think that Melania Trump is all that relevant to this election, because I don't foresee that she'll have much influence on policy. Did she pose nude? Who cares. Is she really an illegal immigrant? Who cares. Did she actually choose the p**** bow blouse after the tape was released? Who cares. It was a nice blouse, though.

But Bill Clinton was president of the United States, and I do think that he is likely to have a not insubstantial impact on a Hillary Clinton administration. So, yes, his record, thoughts and policies do matter to me ... although not to the degree that Hillary Clinton's do.

Now, more to your question ... does it bother me that Trump has been serially unfaithful to his wives? Not really. I think that the fact that he brought his mistress (later wife, Marla Maples) on a ski vacation with his then-wife and kids, where Marla confronted poor Ivana, well, I think that makes him (and Marla) a low-life, but it wouldn't be a decisive point for me. AFAIK, there's never been any allegations of infidelity on Hillary Clinton's part. And if I don't care that Donald cheated on Ivana, and on Marla, and probably on Melania, why on earth would I care that Hillary's husband cheated on her.

Does Hillary's treatment of her husband's paramours bother me? A little. She's a lawyer. She treated it like a legal problem, not a personal one. Interesting insight into her character. But I do think that she's always believed Bill when he says "who, me?"

Does Donald's cavalier reference to molesting women bother me? Yes. But its part of a package. A package of him referring to Mexican immigrants as rapists. Of bragging about his genitals in a debate. Of calling women fat, dogs, pigs, and other epithets. Of mocking a disabled reporter. And everyone who has stood up against him, including Heidi Cruz. Of creating an atmosphere in which racism and antisemitism has thrived. And on and on and on.

sourstix

Tue, Oct 11 2016, 10:12 am

Fox, just look at how trump is behaving! If you don't look at any of the past issues. Which I agree is not ok, I just cant understand how Americans don't see that this guy is dangerous, nothing that comes out of his mouth is thought of before. He has no filter. Imagine him negotiating with other countries like this, it will be a disaster. Everyday e
He says something and then he says a day later he didn't say, I wonder if he's having an attack of amnesia, that being said I don't care for Hillary either, she's got her own set of issues. I will have to make a decision sooner then later who to vote , but it's so difficult. It has never been so tough like this one.