11/08/00 7:55 a.m.
Not Fade Away
The Clintons are still with us.

Robert A. George is an editorial page writer
for the New York Post------------------------------------RAGGEDmail@aol.com

illary Rodham Clinton — the senator-elect from New York." Doesn't that have a great ring to it?

Bill Clinton's impeachment will have repercussions on the political landscape for years to come. We now know one thing: The failure of the Senate to convict Bill Clinton has had a remarkable unintended consequence. While, it may, ultimately, have cost Al Gore the presidency, the flip side is that it its aftermath helped launch a second front for Clintonism — Hillary!

We now face an historic occasion that, under different circumstances might have been cause for unadorned praise: A first lady of the United States has made a run for office in her own right — and won.

Yet, it is the phrase "in her own right" that leaves a profoundly bitter taste in the mouth. The biggest problem that any First Lady would face in running would have been creating her own identity in which to run.

Hillary--though she has figuratively dropped both the "Rodham" and the "Clinton" from her appellation--managed to use all the trappings of the presidency to secure her current position.

Without a unique record of her own on which to run, Mrs. Clinton had the option of conducting a campaign that would have — rhetorically and aesthetically — distinguished herself from her husband's administration.

Instead, the public saw more of the same.

Fundraising irregularities? Yep, more White House sleepovers — with official state dinners thrown in for good measure. Arrogance of power? Sure — when asked about the sleepovers and dinners, Mrs. Clinton just referred to what other presidents and White Houses did as a convenient alibi. In other words, "They all do it." Of course, this statement conveniently ignored the fact that she was not the president; she just assumed she was. Abuse of power? That too: President Clinton--against the advice of the FBI — pardoned members of the FALN, a terrorist Puerto Rican group, to help his wife with an all-important constituency?

As the country learned from 1992, the way a person campaigns will undoubtedly be similar to the way they govern. Thus, New Yorkers will have no excuse if they are surprised by their Sen.-elect in the coming years. Yet, despite all this, there will be a sense of vindication for Hillary Clinton. She played a certain hand and has won convincingly. Yes, she benefited from running in a heavily Democrat state. Yes, she benefited from the implosion of the Giuliani candidacy. And, yes, she benefited from a Rick Lazio effort that was hobbled by a late start and questionable strategy. But Mrs. Clinton also ran a smart campaign. She visited the upstate regions relentlessly — the area where Republicans have to do especially well. Conservatives may find it frustrating, but she convinced those residents that she cared about their concerns. It may be a ploy, but it turned out to be a successful one.

And Bill Clinton remains standing. His wife is an elected member of the body that exonerated him. Gore's fate is because he ran as "his own man," while Hillary openly asked (demanded) and received her husband's assistance. One Clinton is gone, but "Clintonism" remains.

And, because every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so too will "anti-Clintonism." While conservatives have every right to be outraged that the Empire State could elect Hillary Rodham Clinton still have reasons of their own to not be completely upset by this result. Hey, Ted Kennedy may have been re-elected this year, but this is likely to be his last time around. The old liberal lion is in winter. Hillary Rodham Clinton can now become the right's new target. Those direct mail copywriters are already at work, to be sure.

There is no eradicating the stain from the republic. The Clinton legacy of permanent warfare lives on. Perhaps we can rest easy that this time, the battleground might be contained to the Empire State?

Sure. Right.