’90s Scandals Threaten to Erode Hillary Clinton’s Strength With Women

[cali]

This month, Lena Dunham, wearing a red, white and blue sweater dress with the word “Hillary” emblazoned across the chest, told voters how Hillary Clinton had overcome sexism in her political career.

But at an Upper East Side dinner party a few months back, Ms. Dunham expressed more conflicted feelings. She told the guests, at the Park Avenue apartment of Richard Plepler, the chief executive of HBO, that she was disturbed by how, in the 1990s, the Clintons and their allies discredited women who said they had had sexual encounters with or been sexually assaulted by former President Bill Clinton.

The issue emerged last month when Mrs. Clinton accused the Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump of having a “penchant for sexism” and he in turn accused her of hypocrisy, given her husband’s treatment of women. And in recent weeks, the scandals of the 1990s and Mrs. Clinton’s role in them have taken on a life of their own, delivering an unexpected headache to a campaign predicated on inspiring female voters.

<snip>


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/us/politics/90s-scandals-threaten-to-erode-hillary-clintons-strength-with-women.html

[underpants]

1. No

Last edited Wed Jan 20, 2016, 09:58 AM - Edit history (1)

Not a supporter of any camp.

This is flat out lazy reporting. Hillary came out of the hole thing stronger and anyone trying to rehash all the wild 90's nonsense is wasting their time. In my opinion.

[cali]

2. How is this lazy reporting? Attitudes about sexual assault and victims

have changed substantially in the last 25 years.

[draa]

4. Well, the NYT has been in the Clinton camp from the start.

Not sure you're going to find a less biased source towards Hillary. Also not sure about the author of the piece but the paper's reputation speaks for itself.

And why do we hide our heads when it's one of our candidates? Shouldn't we embrace all criticisms and meet them head on? It seems that by avoiding them it just leads to more issues later on.

Also, and I know you and many other won't like this, but, if a married Bill Clinton had been George W Bush and had been perving on a 20yo girl in the Oval Office the Democrats would still be talking about what a predator he was 15 years later. That's a fact.

No 20yo girl should have the pressure of saying NO to the most powerful man in the world. Hell, I don't know that I could and I'm a 50 year old straight man. A child of 20 would have little chance. It happened and there's no since in hiding from it.

[emulatorloo]

9. Bernie supporter here. NYT does and will promote any anti-Clinton meme out there

They have for years.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

15. Here we go with the "20 year old child" bullshit

Monica has never said she was forced or pressured into anything. She makes no bones she wanted to have sex with Bill Clinton and actively flirted with him.

I respect that you think a man in a position of power should be smart and moral enough to reject the advances of a younger woman, but there's no need to distort what actually happened and infantilize a woman of age to score points. A lot of us heard enough of that pure bullshit in 1999 with some of the biggest scumbags and hypocrites known to man such as Newt and Henry Hyde pushing it. I'm sure you don't want to join their company, do you?

[draa]

21. So you're defending Bill Clinton's honor? Hahaha, good god.

That's classic. Blame her for "flirting" and excuse the pervert by blaming the woman and the Republicans. Fucking pathetic.

Bill gets a pass because she "flirted" and he couldn't control his dick.

And did you see those Republicans and what they were doing? Newt and Hyde just forced Bill onto that girl. They made Bill do it because he would never prey on young women.

What in the living fuck. I have 2 daughter close to that age (26-21) so do us both a favor and stop. Just full stop. Anyone that defends what Clinton did at that time has ZERO credibility with me. Just go away.

[thesquanderer]

18. This isn't really about Monica Lewinsky

in the 1990s, the Clintons and their allies discredited women who said they had had sexual encounters with or been sexually assaulted by former President Bill Clinton.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_sexual_misconduct_allegations

[Autumn]

19. Monica said she went to DC to get her "Presidential knee pads".

She was not pressured, she was a more than willing partner who set out to entice him. And she was not a child. She was a woman who set her mind on doing something,a nd she did just that. Bill as a married man should have said no but he didn't. I'm not about to blame him and absolve her. It takes two, neither one of them were victims.

[eridani]

3. 90s scandals were mostly invented bullshit IMO n/t

[cali]

5. Bill's sexual escapades were largely not invented

And they play even less well now, not to mention there is a whole generation who weren't exposed to it.

[noamnety]

6. It's bad timing

given the publicity around Bill Cosby - it's a bit like if Cosby's wife was attacking a candidate for treating women badly, though on a smaller scale.

[baldguy]

8. The RW accusations of rape and sexual harrassment certainly are invented.

And how is any of that Hillary's fault, anyway?

[jeff47]

11. Her first response to many of the accusations was to blame the victim. (nt)

[baldguy]

12. Really? This is what you got? That's what the Arkansas Project wanted you to believe.

She was defending her husband (who was admittedly acting like a jackass) from people who were being paid to lie about him. Hardly victims.

[jeff47]

13. Some were paid, some weren't. They were all blamed. (nt)

[baldguy]

16. The veracity of a "victim" is based on the size of the paycheck they receive from the GOP.

But any of them are good enough to use to attack a Democratic candidate. Got it.

[jeff47]

17. And when they received $0 from the GOP and still got blamed by Clinton? (nt)

[eridani]

20. True, but I don't think of consensual sex as scandalous--or anyone else's business--

--than the parties involved. Sleazy, to be sure.

[bigtree]

7. people looking for yet another way to bring Bill Clinton's sex life into the political debate

...this is sleazy and wrong.

Citing unproven, unsubstantiated rumors as settled fact is about as dirty a political tactic as there is. This attempt goes a bit further and assumes they were true to castigate the Clintons for defending themselves against them.

Moreover, as the article states, 'her spokeswoman, Cindi Berger, said that Ms. Dunham is “fully supportive of Hillary Clinton and her track record for protecting women,” and that the description of her comments at the dinner party was a “total mischaracterization.”

Still, you bring this here and begin defending it as some new revelation or something genuine. The article contradicts itself and is rendered an outright lie, right from the start, with Ms. Dunham's response.

[emulatorloo]

10. Trump's blaming a wife for her husband's infidelity will backfire. I posted an article not

long ago from USA today about Republican women who were disgusted by that attack. They said that if it is Trump v Clinton, they would vote for Clinton because of the egregiousness of Trump's attack.

[Dawson Leery]

14. The extremes on both sides are going to destroy us all.

The extremes are going to face a massive backlash if they attempt to fault Hillary for her husband's affairs.