Senator who?
The Democrat in the limelight before November's US presidential election isn't the party's choice for the White House, Senator John Kerry, but former US president Bill Clinton -- because of his campaign to sell his memoirs.
PHOTO: AFP
Hoopla over Clinton's soon-to-be-released My Life, replete with his recollections and remorse over the illicit affair that threatened his marriage and presidency, has pushed the White House sex scandal to the top of the news again.
Pictures of Clinton and of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky are back on tabloid newspapers' front pages.
Clinton's 957-page book will undoubtedly affect the Kerry campaign, and the candidate will face comparisons -- good or bad -- with the former president, experts say.
Opponents will use the book to pose the Massachusetts lawmaker against what they see as the worst of Clinton. A conservative group said on Thursday it planned to air commercials on Sunday during Clinton's interview about his book on CBS' 60 Minutes.
The ad by Citizens United shows images of the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center and bombings of US embassies in Africa and the USS Cole, with the words: "Winning the war on terror demands a president who is willing to fight it."
"Clinton can try to fool the American people by using 900 pages to rewrite history, but the fact is Bill Clinton didn't lift a finger when al Qaeda declared war on the United States -- almost a decade before 9/11," said David Bossie, the head of Citizens United.
The ad does not mention Kerry, who has criticized US President George W. Bush's efforts in the war on terror.
Kerry supporters aim to use the book to remind voters of the successes of the Clinton administration, strategists said.
"His story will be about his presidency, giving people a reason to think Democrat," said Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf.
"The facts are Americans were working more often and better and earning more during the Clinton years, and the nation was not at war," he said.
Much of the fallout depends on what Kerry does at the Democratic National Convention in Boston next month, said pollster John Zogby.
"If Kerry is seen as the person getting the torch passed to him, that could be very positive," Zogby said.
"If he drops the torch, then it's problematic," Zogby said.
Zogby added Kerry should not repeat what many believe was a critical mistake by Democratic nominee Al Gore in 2000 to distance himself from Clinton, in whose administration Gore served as vice president.
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