In 2016, the Republican Party had 17 major presidential candidates. The Democrats might top that number in 2020, and two of the prospects will almost certainly be New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. While they are formidable politicians, they both have a Clinton problem — one that could derail their presidential candidacies.
Whatever its excesses, the #MeToo Movement has led to a reassessment of Bill Clinton’s personal conduct, with many on the left finally turning against him.
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes started the revisionism. In a series of tweets, Hayes called for a “real reckoning with the allegations against” former President Clinton. Soon other progressives weighed in, most notably New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg, whose op-ed “I believe Juanita” marked a true turning point in the Left’s relationship with Bill Clinton. During the Lewinsky scandal, when credible allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault were leveled against him, it was Clinton’s liberal allies who came to his defense. None were as prominent as Gloria Steinem, who dismissed most of the charges against Clinton. Steinem wrote in the Times, “If all the sexual allegations now swirling around the White House turn out to be true, President Clinton may be a candidate for sex addiction therapy. But feminists will still have been right to resist pressure by the right wing and the media to call for his resignation or impeachment.”
Because Steinem and other feminists stood by their man, Bill Clinton survived, stayed in office, and remained a hero to the left. The #MeToo movement has shattered that hero worship and in so doing, placed McAuliffe and Gillibrand in a difficult position as they prepare their presidential campaigns. On the face of it, no politician in America has benefitted more from the #MeToo movement than Gillibrand. She has been at the forefront of the issue from the beginning and was the first Democratic senator to call for Al Franken’s resignation. Her crusade against sexual violence has earned her fawning press coverage and catapulted her into a leading status for the Democratic nomination. But, the same movement that has made her a star just might derail her presidential ambitions – and it all comes back to the Clintons. When asked by a Times’ reporter if Bill Clinton should have resigned, Gillibrand replied “Yes.” While drawing praise from some, her answer infuriated many Clinton loyalists.
The Clintons are not the forgiving types, and though their hold on the Democratic Party has been diminished, it has not been destroyed. There are still many Democrats who remain fiercely committed to the Clintons and see Gillibrand’s criticism of Bill Clinton as apostasy. Many of the Clinton’s wealthy donors won’t give to Gillibrand’s campaign and Clinton loyalists will eagerly vote for someone else in the primaries. These are obstacles that won’t be easy for the New York senator to overcome. Gillibrand will also have to face charges that her condemnation of Clinton is little more than opportunism and yet another example of her flip-flopping on almost every issue. She after all started her political career as conservative Democrat and a touted her support for the 2nd Amendment, something bound to come up from her Democratic competitors for the nomination.
Gillibrand has attempted to solve her Clinton problem by distancing herself from Bill, but Terry McAuliffe won’t be able to follow suit, since McAuliffe owes his political career to the Clintons. He wouldn’t stand any chance of earning the 2020 nomination were it not for his ties to them. McAuliffe has been friends with the Clintons for over three decades, was co-chairman of Bill Clinton’s reelection campaign in 1996 and then served as chair of Hilary’s failed 2008 presidential campaign. When Bill was president and the Clintons were buying a home in New York, McAuliffe guaranteed their mortgage loan. According to several accounts, he talks on the phone to Bill several times a day and is considered to be Bill Clinton’s choice for 2020. This is McAuliffe’s problem: he is too close to the Clinton, especially Bill, and it will likely cost him the Democrats who agree with Gillibrand that Bill Clinton should have resigned the presidency.
It seems contradictory that being too cozy with the Clintons will cost Terry McAuliffe a candidacy, while distance from the Clintons will hurt Kirsten Gillibrand. Such is the hold that the Clintons have over the Democratic Party that their shadow could cost these two challengers any shot they have at the nomination. Bill and Hillary have been national figures for a generation and still have loyalists in the party who will exact revenge against Gillibrand for daring to go after Bill. But a lot of Democrats now view Bill Clinton as a sexual predator and won’t vote for his preferred candidate. For both Kirsten Gillibrand and Terry McAuliffe, the Clinton problem is one that won’t go away and could doom their campaigns.
Justin P. Coffey is an associate professor of history at Quincy University.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.
