Hillary Clinton enters her convention in relatively stronger shape than her husband did his. Bill may be the superior politician in the family, but he was scraping bottom in June 1992, polling below 30 percent and coming in third place behind Bush and, the leader in some surveys, Ross Perot. Revelations of an extramarital affair, as well as accusations of draft dodging and cronyism, left a terrible first impression for a general electorate just beginning to know him.
Hillary, meanwhile, has been in the lead for months. She’s had her struggles with perceptions of untrustworthiness, but she has not succumbed to them. A known quantity with three decades in the spotlight, she doesn’t have to convince anybody that she’s up to the task of being president . And she is poised to preside over a coronation in which “unity” will be on the tip of every Democratic tongue.
But after the headiness wears off, she will still have to worry if the unity in the hall really runs deep, or if remaining rifts will allow the third-party wild cards to inflict damage. It’s happened before.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member