Discussion of Monica Lewinsky's Reappearance in Public Discourse
CABRERA: After more than a decade of silence, Monica Lewinsky shot back into the spotlight this week. She's writing an essay for this month "Vanity Fair."</s>BLACKWELL: And she details just how difficult life has been being remembered as that woman.</s>CABRERA: But while a certain generation vividly recalls the scandal and subsequent investigation, some Millennial are asking, who is Monica?</s>BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about this. We have got Jason Johnson, he is the HLN political contributor and professor of politics at Hiram College. Also with us, Danny Fund, a student at Georgetown University. Good to have both of you with us. I want to start with Jason. So, you said, Jason that only two students in your class, the class you teach, of course, really knew about Monica Lewinsky's history. How it is possible that only two of them knew?</s>JASON JOHNSON, PROFESSOR OF POLITICS, HIRAM COLLEGE: I was shocked. I was shocked. I was talking about the Clinton scandal and Tony Blair. And, you know, only two students knew oh, that's that lady who had an affair with the president. But they didn't know anything about Ken Starr, they didn't know anything about the investigations. And when I said, you know, she's been references by Eminem, and Nicki Minaj and Beyonce, you know, none of them have ever really Wikipediaed her before. So, I found a lot of my millennial students. They didn't really know much about Monica Lewinsky and they didn't care.</s>CABRERA: Well, so Danny, let's bring you into that discussion since you are a college student. Discussion of this article that's about to come out, came up this week, were people talking about it on campus? Do people care about who Monica Lewinsky is?</s>DANNY FUND, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: They were talking about it. I don't know that they care too much now and I certainly don't think they care too much about how it will affect Hillary Clinton's chances in this next presidential cycle. I don't think a lot of my peers really remember how influential that scandal was in helping Mrs. Clinton get her, you know, as a representative from New York in the Senate. And I think that's the biggest gap in their memory.</s>BLACKWELL: So, Here is my question for you, Jason. Do you think there's a way that Republicans, not in 2014, but, of course, moving toward 2016 and the potential run of Hillary Clinton for the White House, they will be able to shift this narrative of Monica Lewinsky into a tool to use against Hillary?</s>JOHNSON: I don't think it's all that likely for a couple of reasons. Number one, there have been so many juicier scandals since Monica Lewinsky. There's gay sex scandals. There's straight sex scandals. You know those are much more interesting, certainly, to younger people, much more recent. But also because the most seminal memory that I experience with a lot of my students is 9/11. They were first graders when 911 happened. That's something that Republicans can talk about if they want to have conversations about security or national foreign policy. But Hillary Clinton is just this really famous lady who was married to a former president who is now going to be running for president again. Republicans can't do much with Monica Lewinsky in order to sort of taint Hillary Clinton in any way or even Bill Clinton going into the White House. There are other issues that most Millennial are concerned with.</s>CABRERA: And Danny, obviously, let's talk a little bit about culture and your generation. There are so many scandals in politics these days oftentimes, a scandal involving sex. Are you, as a generation, becoming somewhat, I guess, resistant to this? Does it even really matter that much anymore, the president sleeps and has an affair with somebody?</s>FUND: Yeah, I mean I think that definitely still matters. It's definitely worthy of gossip. The question I was curious about was, does it matter enough for people my age to fork over $12 to get past the "Vanity Fair" table. And I think as far as that question goes, the answer is definitely no, unfortunately.</s>CABRERA: No? There's not even that curiosity?</s>FUND: No. They'll -- the reactions on Twitter will suffice for a lot of people of my age.</s>BLACKWELL: There are a lot of questions, Jason, about if this was published now to possibly set up or start a narrative against Secretary Clinton. Why do you think we are hearing about this now from Monica Lewinsky?</s>JOHNSON: Well, I don't - I don't know that she ever really stopped. I mean she's had books, she's had documentaries. I think that Monica Lewinsky is a 40-year-old woman who is realizing now, she's just accepted who she is. And every couple of years, she's going to have to write about this, she's going to have to talk about this. I think, you know, when Lynne Cheney and other people suggested oh, this is a plan for Hillary Clinton or something else like that. Just because Monica talked about it in 2014 doesn't mean she won't be asked in 2016. So, it's not like let's get her off the hook. I think this is just a way for her to sort of remain prominent. She really can't do anything else professionally, as she says in the article. So, you know, this is her opportunity to continue 15 minutes of fame for 15 years.</s>CABRERA: And what is her persona now, villain or victim, do you think?</s>JOHNSON: I think it's a mixture. I talked to a lot of my women colleagues who say, look, she's victimized by society's view of women. But she was 23 years old. And she knew that she was sleeping with a married man. So, a lot of people don't really forgive her for that. But her loss of career is a bit of a problem.</s>BLACKWELL: Jason, Naomi Wolf spoke exclusively to Michael Smerconish last night, that interview airs here at 9:00 this morning. And she's convinced that this was a carefully orchestrated essay by the GOP, what do you think?</s>JOHNSON: I think that's crazy. I mean that blows that vast right wing conspiracy that Hillary Clinton talked about, you know, 15 years ago with Ken Starr and some of these other people. Look, if this is the GOP's master plan to knock Hillary off her game, they might as well just concede the White House right now or just focus on Benghazi. Because I don't see how this changes anyone's opinion. If you are a generation X-er like me, you remember this story and you already have your opinion of Hillary Clinton. If you are a baby boomer, you already either think that Hillary Clinton and the Clintons are bad people or you think she's a victim. And if you a Millennial, you probably don't care. I don't see how the GOP gets any mileage out of this. It didn't exist. Why don't they just keep focusing on Benghazi or something?</s>CABRERA: We are going to talk about that coming up as well. Jason Johnson, Danny Fund, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.</s>JOHNSON: Thank you.</s>FUND: Thank you.</s>CABRERA: At the top of the hour, we are working to get more details now on our breaking news. A hot air balloon hit the power line and bursts into flames.</s>BLACKWELL: Right now, at this moment, we have got investigators. They are searching for three people who are on board. We are going to have a live report from the search scene.