The return of Monica Lewinsky
OF COURSE, college students are asking questions about Monica Lewinsky.
But Bill and Hillary Clinton, not their daughter, Chelsea, should be answering them.
The sordid story about the president and the White House intern dominated the news while today's young voters were growing up. If they know one line from the Clinton years, it's this: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
As a sound bite summing up a presidency, it's in the same league as Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook," - and a far cry from John F. Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
Because the media protected politicians of that era, JFK never had to answer publicly for his private affairs - and neither did his children.
Jimmy Carter once told Playboy, "I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times."
But, committing adultery in your heart is one thing; committing it in the Oval Office is another, especially when you are caught, and impeached for lying about it. Today, Bill Clinton's daughter is being asked to address her father's transgressions, and the impact on her mother's credibility.
"Wow, you're the first person actually that's ever asked me that question in the, I don't know, maybe 70 college campuses I've now been to and I do not think that is any of your business," said Chelsea, the first time someone broached it.
The second time, she said, "It's none of your business. . . . That is something that is personal to my family. . ."
It's uncomfortable to watch the former first daughter confront questions about Lewinsky, but, up to a point, she's fair game.
At 28, Chelsea Clinton is no child. She's an adult campaigning on college campuses specifically to attract young voters to her mother's cause. As a surrogate, she must expect a wide range of questions. To the Lewinsky question, she needs a simple, dignified response: "I'm sorry, that's not something I can answer."
But her parents, and especially her father, can and should answer some questions relating to the matter.
As president, all of Bill Clinton's choices, including his involvement with Lewinsky, became the public's business. A generation of young people, some now voting for the first time, associate his presidency with his lie about sex. Voters, generally, have a right to wonder whether he might cast a similar shadow on a Hillary Clinton presidency.
Hillary Clinton blamed the initial stories about her husband's affair on "a vast right-wing conspiracy." In her book, "Living History," she writes that her husband lied to her, too, and that after he told her the truth, "I wanted to wring Bill's neck." Unfortunately, he dragged the country, not only his family, through a long and ugly mess. Again, voters have a right to seek assurances that they won't be dragged through it again.
The Clintons' reluctance to address this issue highlights a recurring weakness of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. As a candidate, she wants to highlight only what she considers the high points of Bill Clinton's two terms in office, while refusing to address the low points.
Monica Lewinsky was destined to come up in 2008, and Chelsea Clinton was the obvious avenue of inquiry. It's sad that she's the one to face the music about the kind of betrayal that must sear a daughter's soul. But, she's going to get the questions, because her parents won't put the Lewinsky affair to rest in some way that satisfies not only the public's curiosity, but the public's need to know it won't happen again.
It's a bit like what happens after Tony Soprano gets shot and his children have to confront the fact that their father is a Mob boss. "It's all out in the open now," Carmella says sadly. It's that way for Chelsea Clinton, too - not because of curious college students, but because of Bill Clinton's life choices.
Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.
