Ruth Marcus argues that Bill Clinton’s sexual exploitation of women is “fair game” for Republicans. I agree. But that doesn’t mean bringing up Kathleen Willey, Paula Jones, and the rest of them will actually help Republicans defeat Hillary Clinton in November. Revulsion at Bill Clinton’s behavior wasn’t enough to get voters to turn on him when the stories were fresh. Rehashing them years afterward seems unlikely to get voters to turn on her.

At the time of the Lewinsky scandal, the public generally viewed her as the innocent, wronged wife. This sympathy, it seems to me, was largely misplaced. (Remember the famous “vast right wing conspiracy” interview with Matt Lauer? Twice, she said that the scandal would not be “proven true.”) But it helped to get her into the Senate two years later. So far, that is, her husband’s sex scandals have been a benefit to her political career.