State of the Clinton Union
ZAHN: There's a new story in the political world to talk about tonight. Just a few hours ago, New York's Democratic Party nominated Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for a second term. New York's Republicans have had a really tough time finding anyone to run against her. In fact, the senator's acceptance speech sounded more like the kickoff for a 2008 run for the White House. And, whether she runs or not, it brings up a really intriguing question. What is going on with one of the most unusual and intriguing power couples in politics?</s>ZAHN (voice-over): Standing on her own, nominated for a second term, Senator Hillary Clinton at her most political.</s>SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: The current administration and the Republican majority are trying to turn Washington into an evidence-free zone.</s>H. CLINTON: It's an environment where it's more important to say mission accomplished than actually accomplish the missions.</s>ZAHN: Afterwards, under the glare of campaign music, her biggest fan was analyzing her performance.</s>WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do we want a really big victory in November? Yes. If we not only have a critique, but we have a clear statement of our priorities in energy, economy, health care, and security issues, all these areas, I think so. And that's why I -- I loved her speech today. I was proud of her.</s>ZAHN: Yes, Bill and Hillary are still a team, even though she's busy in the Senate and he's busy with global projects, like fighting AIDS and raising money for disaster victims. So, what's the state of their marriage? A recent "New York Times" article says, the Clinton spent 51 of the last 73 weekends in each other's company, and they average about 14 days a month together. "The Times" says it figured that out by talking to some 50 people who know the Clintons. It reports there has been a conscious attempt to raise her profile by toning down his. But, as we saw at Coretta Scott King's funeral this year, Bill Clinton can still upstage a church full of presidents.</s>W. CLINTON: I'm honored to be here with my president and my former presidents, and -- and when -- when -- when...</s>ZAHN: In her autobiography, Mrs. Clinton revealed they sought counseling after the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Eight years later, the Clintons are still together.</s>H. CLINTON: I want to also thank my husband, who's here today, and...</s>ZAHN: Today, at an important point in Hillary Clinton's political career, that one line sparked some of the loudest, most sustained applause.</s>H. CLINTON: He remains an inspiration and a mentor, a friend and a partner.</s>ZAHN: He was the first person on stage at the end of her speech. One of the most intriguing marriages apparently remains alive and well.</s>ZAHN: And with me now is the author of that "New York Times" article about the Clintons' marriage, Patrick Healy. Good of you to join us, Patrick. So...</s>PATRICK HEALY, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Hi, Paula.</s>ZAHN: Hi. So, if Hillary ends up running for president, is Bill Clinton seen as a liability, or does he end up helping her?</s>HEALY: Behind the scenes, he's a big help. He's her best political adviser. He's one of the master political advisers, I would say, in a generation, especially in Democratic politics. He reads her speeches. He looks over her jokes. He tells her whether she sounds too partisan, maybe not partisan enough. But, in public, it's a tricky, complicated issue for Hillary Clinton. She wants to be standing on her own. She wants to be judged by the last six years of policy and accomplishments, from 9/11, to jobs, that she's delivered for New York. And she wants to bring that national. She doesn't want to go national as the partner or proxy or political spouse of a former president. She wants to stand on her own. So, it's a tricky balance.</s>ZAHN: You did some very interesting analysis of the time they spend together, the time they spend apart. But when you crunch those numbers, are those really any different from members of Congress whose families stay at home in the home district and the -- the working member of Congress stays in Washington?</s>HEALY: Sure, it's pretty -- it's pretty similar. And that's a very fair point to make. The thing is, is that Hillary Clinton is not just one of 100 senators. She's a distinct political figure, a rock star, if you will, in the Democratic Party. She's the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, a lot of people say. And Bill Clinton isn't simply Teresa Heinz Kerry or Laura Bush or Tipper Gore, or even Bob Dole, when Liddy Dole ran. He would be returning as an ex-president to the White House. So, their schedules, I think, really are distinctive. Their ambitions are incredibly distinctive. But, even more than that, Paula, what a lot of their friends said, and some of their advisers, is that there's a very conscious effort to manage how they appear in public together. You pointed out the Coretta Scott King moment, where she, to a lot of Democrats, looked diminished, where as today if he's playing the helpful, the booster, giving the great sound bite to the media afterwards, that's great, but as long as he doesn't upstage her or crowd her presence too much.</s>ZAHN: So if she announces she's going to run one of these days, which of course she hasn't even really hinted at, what is the biggest challenge for Bill Clinton if it is his hope that he doesn't undercut her, by simply appearing with her in public.</s>HEALY: Sure, I think it's going to be the role that he plays over her policy decisions, political choices. We saw that recently with the Dubai courts controversy. A big deal made on whether they disagreed on that, whether his business interests played into his decision-making, whether that leaped over to her. It's got to be the political role. What we are trying to look at with the marriage was just simply a matter -- since they left the White House, how much time do they spent together? What is the relationship like? Post-Monica, what is it like? A lot of Democrats voluntarily brought up the issue of Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton's own past behavior, as a concern, sort of an X factor, that might be difficult to manage in a campaign. You know as well as I do that in politics, advisers really want to be able to control all the contingencies, and all the X factors that might be out there, and how Americans and voters see Bill Clinton is a real unpredictable, an unpredictable challenge for the Clinton folks.</s>ZAHN: And it's interesting that you note in the article that some of the people might look at some of his past indiscretions as something that actually might make Hillary Clinton look more sympathetic to some voters out there. It will be interesting to see how this all ends up being viewed if she decides to run. Patrick Healy, thanks for your time tonight.</s>HEALY: Thanks, Paula.</s>ZAHN: Appreciate it. Moving on now to some medical research, which actually suggests you could live a lot longer, like do you want to live to 100? Well, if you do, you've got to eat a whole lot less. Doesn't that look like a divine dinner there? Do you really want to starve yourself to live that long other even longer than 100? Plus the singing group that got into lots of trouble for criticizing President Bush. So how has that affected the Dixie Chicks' new album? They happen to be guests on Larry King tonight a little bit later on. First though, number six on our cnn.com countdown, doctors in Shanghai are trying to decide whether to operate on a baby with a rare birth defect. This two-month-old baby was born with a third arm. Doctors say the child's size may make an operation extremely difficult. Number five in Illinois, Larry Bright, who prosecutors say is a serial killer, has pleaded guilty to the murders of eight women, in a deal that will send him to prison for life and keep him off death row. Number four is just ahead.