“A HYDRA-HEADED BEAST”“A HYDRA-HEADED BEAST”
Bill doesn’t talk about a Hillary presidency; he talks about their presidency.
—Anonymous
Barack Obama was asked at a press conference: “Mr. President . . . my question to you is do you still have the juice to get the rest of your agenda through this Congress?”
Obama tried to laugh off the insinuation that he was no longer relevant. Quoting Mark Twain, he said the rumor of his demise was exaggerated. But there was no denying the fact that though Obama might be sitting in the Oval Office, Bill and Hillary Clinton had seized control of the political party of which he was the titular head.
Power over the Democratic National Committee (DNC) gave the Clintons unfettered access to the party’s money and organization, and, just as important, the final say over the rules and regulations for the upcoming primaries.
As the front-runner for the nomination, Hillary wanted to participate in as few debates as possible so that she could limit her exposure. The head of the DNC, Debbie Wasserman Schultz—a one-time Obama acolyte who had transferred her loyalty to the Clintons—was more than happy to oblige. The DNC indicated that there would be just four primary debates in 2015 (in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada) and only a handful in 2016.
By contrast, there were more than twenty debates during the Democratic primary in 2008—the last time the nomination was up for grabs.
As the day of the first debate approached, the level of tension in Whitehaven, Hillary’s home in Washington, was palpable. According to people who spoke directly with Hillary, she and Bill considered the upcoming election to be their last hurrah, and they were worried sick that Hillary was going to blow the campaign and destroy the family brand.
The tension gave rise to continual arguments.
“They have always been a family that engages in spirited debates,” said a close Clinton source who witnessed many of these arguments firsthand. “Nobody is afraid to be a contrarian or to argue against the conventional family wisdom. That’s why they have shouting matches on a regular basis.
“Chelsea has grown up with parents with hot tempers,” the source continued. “She’s as clever and analytical at arguing both sides of a question as her dad, and she’s as volatile as her mom.
“Chelsea gets angry at her father for bullying her mother. Then she gets equally angry with her mom for not taking her dad’s advice. It’s almost like a family sitcom, except that this family intends to carry on like the characters in the TV series Shameless when they get to the White House.
“There’s an air of palace intrigue among the three Clintons. They don’t completely trust each other. Bill felt blindsided when Hillary brought Donna Shalala in as the CEO of the foundation. He’s always been distrustful of the relationship between Hillary and Donna. They have a chemistry that makes Bill suspicious about their motives. He’s deceitful by nature, and he assumes everyone else is disloyal, including his wife and daughter.
“Chelsea doesn’t like her husband, Marc, cozying up to Bill, which he does all the time. She’s jealous of anyone who gets between her and her father. Marc has always felt like the odd man out in the family, and he tries to ingratiate himself with Bill. Hillary is worried that Marc’s financial dealings aren’t always entirely kosher, and she’s ordered a couple of her aides to keep an eye on Marc and report back to her what he’s up to.
“Hillary and Bill obviously love their daughter, but they’re not comfortable with all of Chelsea’s activities. To them, it looks like Chelsea’s installing people loyal to her at the foundation, squeezing out Hillary and Bill’s people, and that Chelsea intends to establish a coterie of loyalists in Hillary’s campaign as well. She’s declaring herself as an independent force.
“The relationship among the three of them is extremely complicated. Chelsea’s been a good sailor throughout her life, grinning and bearing it while her parents sailed through a sea of scandals and troubles. As a result, she’s built up a huge stack of chits with her parents. And she’s clever, very clever at leveraging her power with them.
“Hillary’s campaign is a hydra-headed beast with different factions vying for control. Bill and Hillary have separate visions of what a new Clinton presidency would look like. Hillary has a long shopping list of incremental good things that can be done for social welfare, immigration, and school reform. Bill has a grand vision of changing the world through big proposals on the international stage.
“Maybe these disparate visions can be made compatible. But I don’t think anybody who knows the Clintons sees that as realistic. Hillary may be the boss of bosses, but her husband and daughter are going to control their own teams. The potential for clashes among them is inevitable. I wouldn’t want to be Hillary’s campaign manager. He’s going to have an impossible job.”
Hillary had other, even more urgent reasons to be tense and anxious.
The scandal surrounding her use of a private e-mail server had escalated out of her control: the matter had been referred to the FBI for investigation, and for the first time in her life, Hillary faced possible criminal charges. According to several close Clinton sources who were interviewed for this book, Hillary was frightened and furious and defiant all at once.