COLUMN: "Wine, Women and Song"

From Bruce Forman's "Shaking The Tree," Spring '92. Too much wine, women and song. These things have toppled all too many public figures, much to the the delight of tabloid newspapers and Geraldo. And nothing rouses a feeding frenzy in the media more than a juicy sex scandal, especially one involving politicians. Governor Bill Clinton is experiencing first-hand the economics of sleeze and the American demand for steamy details about public figures' private lives. In one week, his campaign for president, along with the campaigns of his Democratic competitors, has turned away from economic and health care issues in New Hampshire to allegations made by Gennifer Flowers. This past week, the nation has been captivated by some of the most serious, most pressing, most dire questions of the campaign. Did Gennifer Flowers really make an appearance on Hee-Haw, the classic country television show? Has she had her breasts enlarged yet? But most importantly, are there more blond bumpkins who are going to come out of the woodwork and sack Clinton for $100,000 and a prominent spot next to the supermarket check-out counter? The scandal does have a positive side. At least for a little bit, it has focused our attention away from the depressing reports about our economy and the dominance of the Japanese, providing some cheap entertainment after the Super Bowl. So far, Clinton has parried the questions of marital infidelity. To start, he never dared reporters to follow him around and probe his past while he was having affairs, like Gary Hart. He hasn't taken time off to cruise on big, conspicuous yachts with incriminating names and voluptuous female passengers. Even better, there are no graphic pictures displaying the upright politician on top of one of his female acquaintances; nor has he been videotaped in the act, like former Washington Mayor Marion Barry. Gennifer Flowers has yet to land on the cover of Playboy, unlike Tai Collins, Senator Chuck Robb's alleged mistress and former Miss Virginia. Robb, who ironically could become a presidential candidate, admitted that she visited him in his hotel room and gave him a massage when he was clothed only in a white bathrobe. But did he sleep with her? No, said Robb, an ex-Marine, he didn't have sex with her. The discipline he exhibited is certainly admirable -- though you have to question why he didn't sleep with her. Fortunately, Clinton has not had to resort to such far-fetched stories. In other words, things could be worse for the Governor. We could still be in the midst of an economic expansion, in a presidential campaign where visits to flag factories are debated and patriotism is finagled to be a key issue. Clinton has been buoyed by the recession. People tend to be less concerned about extramarital affairs when their unemployment benefits are about to run out and they're about to lose their home to foreclosure. In this election, voters are much more concerned with real issues like the economy and health care. Chances of winning only with mudslinging and Willie Horton imagery are slim when voters listen intently to how each candidate is going to fatten his pocketbook and improve his standard of living. Clinton is also aided by his wife Hillary -- a lovely dirty blond, incidentally -- who doesn't appear as a bimbo or wallflower. She is a bright, highly paid lawyer, one who makes roughly five times her husband's salary. In the Clintons' appearance after the Super Bowl on "Sixty Minutes," it was she who dared the American public to decide for themselves if the charges were significant, and also dared them not to vote for her husband because of the scandal. This is a rather shrewd strategy, shifting the morality issue from her husband's shoulders to the electorate. The Clintons' strategy works well, given Flowers' unsubstantiated allegations. The Clintons say that their candor is unprecedented and they're hoping voters will reward Clinton for his honesty. With a high divorce rate in this country, Clinton's campaign is also banking on voters relating to the couple's problems and dismissing the issue. Clinton's frankness may even impress a few voters and paint him as a strong and forthright candidate. In a poll taken by Time magazine on the eve of Gary Hart's withdrawal from the race for the Democratic nomination, people responded they were more troubled with Hart's lying than by his extramarital relations by a ten to one margin. Clinton's tactic, then, of denying an affair with Flowers -- but not answering general questions about his marital fidelity -- seems wise. If there continues to be no smoking gun from Flowers and there isn't an avalanche of women who contend they slept with Clinton, he will probably escape from the scandal with his nomination hopes intact. Further, with the added attention directed at his campaign, Clinton's frontrunner status will only be strengthened if he can get himself off the hook. But the lesson about sex and politics remains: If you want to be in the limelight and still get laid, be an actor and not a politician. · Bruce Forman is a junior Finance major from East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Shaking the Tree appears alternate Mondays.