Billary

For Clintons, Delicate Dance of Married and Public Lives

Patrick Healy in the Times: When the subject of Bill and Hillary Clinton comes up for many prominent Democrats these days, Topic A is the state of their marriage — and how the most dissected relationship in American life might affect Mrs. Clinton's possible bid for the presidency in 2008. ...

The dynamics of a couple's marriage are hard to gauge from the outside, even for a couple as well known as the Clintons. But interviews with some 50 people and a review of their respective activities show that since leaving the White House, Bill and Hillary Clinton have built largely separate lives — partly because of the demands of their distinct career paths and partly as a result of political calculations. ...

The effect has been to raise Senator Clinton's profile on the public radar while somewhat toning down Mr. Clinton's; he has told friends that his No. 1 priority is not to cause her any trouble. They appear in the public spotlight methodically and carefully: The goal is to position Mrs. Clinton to run for president not as a partner or a proxy, but as her own person.

Many of those interviewed were granted anonymity to discuss a relationship for which the Clintons have long sought a zone of privacy. The Clintons and, for the most part, their aides declined to cooperate for this article and urged others not to cooperate as well. Their spokesmen, Jay Carson (his) and Philippe Reines (hers), provided a statement about the relationship:

"She is an active senator who, like most members of Congress, has to be in Washington for part of most weeks. He is a former president running a multimillion-dollar global foundation. But their home is in New York, and they do everything they can to be together there or at their house in D.C. as often as possible — often going to great lengths to do so. When their work schedules require that they be apart they talk all the time."

Since the start of 2005, the Clintons have been together about 14 days a month on average, according to aides who reviewed the couple's schedules. Sometimes it is a full day of relaxing at home in Chappaqua; sometimes it is meeting up late at night. At their busiest, they saw each other on a single day, Valentine's Day, in February 2005 — a month when each was traveling a great deal. Last August, they saw each other at some point on 24 out of 31 days. Out of the last 73 weekends, they spent 51 together. The aides declined to provide the Clintons' private schedule.

It's kindof a crazy article on face, but also necessary. I'm sure the Clintons would rather the Times not care about their marriage, but given that they and millions of Americans do, it's probably better that it run now than closer to 2008.

Which doesn't mean the topic of their marriage won't come up a million times between now and then. Oh well; it's still a sexist country and it's always interesting to me how much of the ugliness and odd sense of entitlement in people is brought out by Hillary. It's the same kind of disproportionate emotional response that Martha Stewart seems to engender, and that people mutter under their breaths at Oprah.

As I said to a friend this weekend, I hope Condoleeza Rice wins the GOP nomination--two women running against each other is the only way I can see America electing a female president anytime soon.

Some lines in the article made me crack up--it's like they're describing totally normal things as if it were matters of state. Plus it's funny reading speculation about what in the end is a pretty private thing between two people in Timespeak. I guess it's better than if they splashed an article about Bennifer on their front page.

Some friends say that they do not notice any tension now, though they are not sure when, or how, it lifted. ...

"Who knows how any couple conquers the issues in their marriage, but they did it," said Chris Korge, a Democratic fund-raiser who is close to both Clintons. "It's like when he bought her a new diamond ring recently, you just saw the look in her face. When someone shows you something like that, 'This is what Bill bought me,' kind of gleaming, it meant something to get it — it meant more to her that he bought it for her than what it actually was."

Photo of Clintons from the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet