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T A B L E++T A L K

What is the best way to discipline your child when he/she has done something wrong? Share your tips and strategies in Table Talk

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R E C E N T L Y

Do the right thing
By Sallie Tisdale
Should the U.S. apologize for slavery? Only if we ever want to have a real conversation about racism
(01/22/98)

Time for one thing
By Lori Leibovich
Black pants: The
cellulite closet
(01/21/98)

"NYPD Blue" in a family way
By Joyce Millman
What started out as a cop show has become a meditation on the challenges, nightmares and blessings of parenthood
(01/20/98)

Drama Queen candidates
How is it that children have such a highly attuned sense of picking the worst possible moments to remind you of the true nature of parenthood?
(01/19/98)

Nursing the Muse
By Lori Leibovich
Birth of poetic inspiration
(01/16/98)

ARCHIVES

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Mamafesto
By Camille Peri
Why it's time
for Mothers Who Think

THE LATEST WHITE HOUSE FIRESTORM IS CERTAINLY TESTING HILLARY CLINTON'S RESOLVE TO STAND BY HER MAN
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BY CAMILLE PERI AND LORI LEIBOVICH

Six years ago, when Bill Clinton's presidential bid was rocked by the first "bimbo eruption," the Gennifer Flowers allegations, it was Hillary Rodham Clinton who responded first, saving his campaign with her passionate defense of their marriage. "That's an issue [faithfulness] that we are very comfortable with in our marriage," she said on the eve of the 1992 New Hampshire primary. "We love each other. We support each other ... We've stood by each other through thick and thin."

Wednesday, while the president awkwardly struggled to make his denial of the latest bimbo explosion, the Monica Lewinsky affair, stronger and more convincing as the day wore on, Hillary Clinton again stood by her husband, saying emphatically that she believed the latest allegations were false and politically motivated. But this latest controversy, involving a woman not much older than the first couple's daughter who worked in their home, may be the ultimate test of the Clintons' relationship.

Can this marriage be saved? Even if Kenneth Starr fails to dig up proof of adultery and perjury in the Oval Office, will the strain of battling through one more public scandal be enough to destroy the first marriage? Salon canvassed a range of Clinton intimates, observers and psychologists for their views of whether the Clintons will survive the latest barrage of media scrutiny and allegations.

The sheer number of stories about President Clinton's alleged womanizing over the years has led some to wonder whether the Clintons might have an "open" marriage.

"No, I don't really think so, and if they do, it's not formalized," said longtime Clinton observer Meredith Oakley, a political columnist at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and author of "On the Make: The Rise of Bill Clinton" (Regency). "I think periodically (Bill and Hillary) butt heads. I think periodically she says, 'Enough, fellow, we've got to correct this situation.' She is not a silent partner in this marriage."

Another source familiar with the Clintons since their days in Arkansas politics, who spoke with Salon on the condition of anonymity, agreed that the couple does not have an open arrangement. "I don't think she's given him permission to stray, no," the source told Salon. "I think [Hillary Clinton] is generally a conventional, middle-class woman. I think she's tolerated a lot and forgiven a lot, but I think she's concluded that comes with the package -- that Bill Clinton is such an extraordinary person that she has to forgive him some things."

Some observers say Clinton's philandering is such a reckless and chronic part of his life that it must be characterized as pathological. David Brock, author of "The Seduction of Hillary Rodham" (Free Press), has asserted that Clinton "is a sex addict."

Salon's source in Arkansas said the long history of allegations about Clinton have raised similar questions in his mind. "Rumors about the president's affairs have been circulating for so long, and have been so persistent, that most people would say that Bill Clinton has, in the past, been indiscreet. People here felt that [his philandering] was a flaw, but not a fatal flaw." Now, in the wake of the latest scandal, added the source, "the Clintons are going to have to sit down and talk to Chelsea like a grown-up. If he did this, then he's a sex addict and they have to tell her that daddy is a sick man. If he is a sex addict, then it's like he's an alcoholic. His promises aren't worth a shit. He'll whip it out even if it brings the world down."

N E X T+P A G E: It's about power, not sex

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PHOTOGRAPH: SIPA PRESS