海角大神

'The Hillary Papers': Is Clinton's past a political danger?

'The Hillary Papers' have been described as portraying a politically unflattering portrait of Mrs. Clinton, a possible 2016 presidential candidate. Now, partisans are divided on whether such bits could damage her image.

Do "The Hillary Papers鈥� contain damaging revelations or just the same old stuff? That鈥檚 a question dividing D.C. partisans in the wake of the publication of a trove of memos and archive material from , a longtime friend of ex-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's who died in 2000.

Ms. Blair, a political scientist and author, had planned to write a book from the papers. That never happened. Instead, they were deposited at the University of Arkansas. were first made public late Sunday by the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative news site.

The Free Beacon describes the documents as portraying a politically unflattering portrait of Mrs. Clinton, a possible 2016 presidential candidate. For instance, it leads with a 1992 memo from Bill Clinton鈥檚 pollsters that mused about ways to improve the image of his wife.

Voters admired her intelligence, drive, and fortitude, the memo said. But she was off-putting to some, particularly older, male voters.

鈥淲hat voters find slick in Bill Clinton, they find ruthless in Hillary,鈥� the memo said.

Papers published by the Free Beacon also contained notes written by Blair from conversations with Clinton in which the latter said that her husband鈥檚 dalliance with Monica Lewinsky was a terrible personal failure on his part, but that it had been a mutual affair and that Bill had tried to cut it off, seeing how dangerous it was.

Blair noted that Mrs. Clinton described Ms. Lewinsky as a 鈥渘arcissistic loony tune.鈥�

The political scientist also wrote that Clinton felt 鈥渕anaged competition鈥� health-care reform would not work, while government-run 鈥渟ingle payer鈥� health care, and perhaps an expanded Medicare, was the best way to go.

Will these bits damage Clinton鈥檚 image on the eve of a 2016 run? On the right-leaning "Hot Air" site, , 鈥淔or those looking for nuggets of embarrassment gold from the Clinton Era, this is pay dirt.鈥�

But, he adds, the past is past, and the GOP is better off focusing on Benghazi and more current Clinton material to lower her poll numbers.

鈥淭he problem with Hillary isn鈥檛 her cut-throated approach to politics. It鈥檚 that she鈥檚 incompetent,鈥� Mr. Morrissey writes.

Many voters don鈥檛 think Clinton incompetent, given her sky-high poll numbers, other pundits point out. And in some ways, her past is her present. If she runs, her extensive r茅sum茅 would make her unlike any previous presidential contender. She can鈥檛 wave it away.

In a general election against Clinton, a Republican nominee would almost certainly argue that he or she represents the future, and Clinton the past, writes Washington Post in "The Fix." The publication of "The Hillary Papers鈥� only highlights how the GOP could use this to depict her in a negative way.

鈥淭he biggest hurdle for Hillary Clinton as she contemplates another White House bid in 2016 can be effectively summed up by Timon, the meerkat from 鈥楾he Lion King鈥�: 鈥榊ou鈥檝e got to put the past behind you,鈥� 鈥� Mr. Cillizza writes.

That said, there is actually little evidence that voters get tired of presidential candidates who have been public figures for decades. 鈥淐linton fatigue鈥� may strike mostly those voters who were against them from Bill鈥檚 first day in the White House.

Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, which was 30 years after he began making political speeches, writes University of Denver at the "Mischiefs of Faction" political science blog.

Lyndon Johnson won a landslide victory in 1964, which was 28 years after he entered the public eye as a member of Congress, later becoming a senator and vice president.

Bob Dole and Walter Mondale both won major-party presidential nominations after decades of political service.

聽鈥淸A]ssuming [Clinton] wants and gets the Democratic nomination for 2016, she will be subject to the same forces that have determined the successes and failures of previous party nominees: prosperity, peace, moderation, and, to a lesser extent, her skills as a campaigner relative to her opponent鈥檚. Those, and not her freshness, will determine that election鈥檚 outcome,鈥� Mr. Masket writes.