A poll taken during the recent election tells the story.
Gallup asked voters if a Barack Obama or Bill Clinton campaign appearance for a candidate would make them more or less likely to vote for that candidate.
Among Democrats, Clinton received a net positive rating of 48 percentage points, six points higher than Obama.
The gap rocketed higher among independents, who gave Obama a net negative rating of 27 percentage points: only 12 percent said that an Obama campaign stop would make them more likely to vote for the candidate, compared to 39 percent who said it would make them less likely to vote for the Obama endorsed pol.
Wow — what a turn of events in the decade since Bill Clinton left office, impeached for lying to a grand jury and disgraced by a series of alleged assaults and lewd acts with various women.
But a newly released book threatens to remind voters of Clinton’s disastrous performance as president.
Gen. Hugh Shelton, who was Clinton’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, alleges Clinton lost the nuclear “biscuit” — a card containing the numeric codes he needs to launch a nuclear attack — or response. A president is supposed to carry it with him at all times.
Shelton relates the full story in his just-published memoir, “Without Hesitation: The Odyssey of an American Warrior.” The president’s failure to secure our most basic (and most vital) defense secrets was typical of his approach to national security over eight years that witnessed Chinese spies looting our national laboratories and increased terrorist attacks.
Even without the Shelton memoir, Americans have a short memory.
The list of Clinton wrongdoing is legendary.
Remember the credible allegations of rape levied by Juanita Broaddrick?
Or charges of assault from Kathleen Willey?
Paula Jones received an out-of-court settlement of $850,000 for Clinton’s misbehavior. Other women accusing Clinton of misbehavior include Sally Perdue, Gennifer Flowers, and Elizabeth Ward Gracen.
All of this made a joke of his famous protest about White House intern Monica Lewinsky, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”
Only later did we learn he deposited a large spot of “evidence” on her blue dress. Comedians the world over laughed about how he could accomplish this outside of sex.
Other Clinton scandals included but are not limited to: The Whitewater land deal, the Rose Law firm’s missing billing records, illegal profits in cattle trading, the Castle Grande real estate scheme, the Travel office scandal and firing of Billy Dale, Mike Espy’s special favors from Tyson Foods, Filegate and the rummaging of 900 FBI files of Republican officials, Dale Watkins’ improper use of presidential helicopters for golf outings, Web Hubbell’s bilking of law clients, illegal foreign contributions from the Lippo group of Indonesia and numerous Chinese conduits, appointing an ex-bouncer with a history of drug use named Craig Livingstone head of White House security, the mysterious death of Vince Foster and the failure to properly search his office, questionable presidential pardons traded for cash or political favors — and those are just the ones we found out about.
So Bill Clinton may be “Rocking the Democratic Faithful,” as the Rio Grande Sun newspaper recently reported, but prudent voters should remember that his presidency was as failed as Barack Obama’s.
(Floyd and Mary Beth Brown are best selling authors and speakers. To comment on this column, e-mail browns@caglecartoons.com.)