Hillary to Set Up Clinton Administration in Exile
If first lady Hillary Clinton wins New York's Senate race today, it will mean the Clinton administration won't come to an end next January 20.
Instead, look for Bill and Hillary to set up a de facto government in exile in New York's Westchester County - especially if Texas Gov. George Bush captures the White House.
With the Bushes dominating Washington's political scene once again, the Clintons can be expected to use Hillary's Senate seat as a perch from which to launch attack after attack against Republicans, on everything from pet issues like health care and education to foreign policy.
If Bush should stumble at any point, look for Mrs. Clinton to take the lead as his most prominent Democratic critic. From her safe vantage point representing the nation's most liberal large state, her attacks are sure to push all the right special interest group buttons.
Hillary's most powerful political allies were already based in New York. Harold Ickes, Susan Thomases and Thomases' Wilkie, Gallagher and Farr law firm colleague Mario Cuomo are sure to pitch in, along with Cuomo's son Andrew, the soon-to-be former HUD secretary.
With the team already in place and the media ready to crown Mrs. Clinton America's No. 1 rising political star, she'll be the odds-on favorite for the 2004 presidential nomination.
There will be no Clinton divorce. The marriage will continue in name only - as it has for years even before the Clintons captured Washington. The illusion of the once and future happy first couple is neccessary to maintain the most effective quasi-legal fund-raising operation in American political history.
Mr. Clinton, famous for his score settling, will no doubt take advantage of every opportunity to embarrass Bush. And he'll be able to do it not as an ex-president, of whom propriety demands a low profile, but from behind the scenes as the spouse of the most powerful member of the Democratic Party.
When he tires of that role, then Clinton may return to haunt Republicans himself. Last month, a trusted friend reportedly asked if he'd ever consider seeking the White House again. "I certainly wouldn't rule it out," Clinton replied - 22nd Amendment notwithstanding.
Bush and his advisers best beware. New Yorkers are poised to give the Clintons a new lease on life.
Republican insiders will rue the day they didn't do more to stop Bill and Hillary when they had the chance. |
