The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

The Clinton Marriage

Rachael, I don't think your sympathy for Hillary is misplaced. But I think perhaps you are not cynical enough. I've always assumed that the Clintons had a purely political marriage. So when you ask, "Wouldn't it be easy for Hillary to pop down to the Oval Office and see how Bill's doing or ask him if he wanted to serve the red wine or the white at their dinner that night, on a quiet Sunday afternoon?" I wonder, what if she had? Would she care if she found "that woman, Ms. Lewinsky," under Bill's desk? I always assumed she would not in the same way that you or I would care if we walked in on our husbands with another woman, except that it would be a pain in the butt for Hillary in political terms. (How to keep it quiet? How to explain it? etc.)

Do the Clintons love each other in the way that married people love each other? I just assumed they were still together for political reasons only.

Why does a man, or woman, have to be married to be successful in politics? Why couldn't Hillary have ditched Bill then and gone on to have her political career? Sadly, I don't think she stuck around for love.

Also, I do find it mean-spirited for the AP to cross-reference Hillary's public schedule with the Starr Report. After all, she did nothing wrong.