The Real Reason Hillary is Running
February 21, 2008 8:50 pm Politics, Presidential ElectionI think I know the real reason Hillary Clinton is running for president. It has nothing to do with power or ambition, health care reform, ending the war on terror, or making the world a better place. While all worthy issues, they are merely side benefits, icing on the much more substantial cake underlying them. What Hillary is really after dwarfs all of these in the standard, immediate, boring way that personal issues always do when compared to philosophical issues of “public concern.”
We all know Hillary has issues on the home front. Let us not forget, as she has so brilliantly campaigned for us to do, that she was humiliated less than a decade ago by a philandering husband in the most public of spectacles. We expected her to divorce him (rooted for her to do so, even) about ten seconds after W took the oath of office, but she surprised us all by ignoring the public embarrassment (which she had, in some measure, probably grown used to by that time) and instead reinventing herself as a New York senator. Hmmm. Complete public denial. A timeless method used by countless humiliated wives in the public eye.
Or was it? Because I think it was something else entirely. I think Hillary had a more devious plan for making Bill pay than divorce would have provided. I think she came up with a much farther-reaching strategy, as clever and brilliant as she is at her very best. I think Hillary had a candid talk with Bill, telling him that he owed her big time, and she was going to collect; that as long as she was in the public eye, he better not dare screw around because this time it was her career, not just her dignity, on the line. And he had to comply because he did, indeed, owe her. Big time.
As Hillary quickly discovered, being in the Senate wasn’t enough; who ever hears about the infidelity of a Senator’s spouse or, hearing of it, cares a whit? But in a presidential race, everything counts. Every aspect of a candidate’s life is dissected and examined and placed on display for all to see and judge. Every member of a candidate’s family must be seen as an asset or, at the very least, not a liability.
The upshot is obvious: As long as Hillary is running for President, Bill must behave. He knows it, and she knows he knows it. And it’s the most upper hand she’s probably ever had in their relationship. And, if she’s as brilliant as I suspect, she’s going to milk it for all it’s worth.
And this is the real reason why Hillary is running.
Think about it. Not only is Bill forced to rein in his substantial libido, but he must also work exhaustively, publicly supporting and campaigning for his wife. Rather than severing the marital ties and leaving him to quietly do as he pleases after his own weighty public service career (which, most would agree, is enough to ask of anyone), Bill has to rally once more ‘round the campaign flag, enduring the intense pressure and stress of it all over again, this time with Hillary’s well-being paramount, and therefore, with no liberty at all to imbibe in questionable behavior. It’s not likely to be a lifestyle he relishes.
She’s got him right where she wants him.
And wow, think about if she gets elected; think how conflicted Bill must be about this. While he might like the idea of being back in the White House, he can’t possibly be happy about the implications it would impose on his personal life. But it doesn’t matter; he owes his wife, and being a decent guy at heart, he’ll fulfill that obligation.
Hillary is fully aware of this. For her, getting elected means so much more than being leader of the free world. It means at least four years of guaranteed fidelity. It’s money in the bank of faithfulness. For this reason, she has a more personal stake in the race than probably any presidential candidate in history. I only wish she would come clean about it. Not that she should run on a “scorned woman gets even” ticket, necessarily, but I think her highly personal stake in winning the race gives her an authenticity no other candidate has ever had. I’m not sure exactly how she could package that, but I’m sure she has staffers who could come up with something good. After all, the personal always takes precedence over the non-personal. That’s just a fact of life, and something that would resonate with all voters everywhere.