CZ-75
June 9, 2003, 01:50 PM
http://www.foxnewschannel.com/story/0,2933,88891,00.html
Clinton Launches Huge Book Tour
Monday, June 09, 2003
NEW YORK ? She will only pen her name, no personalized greetings, and will only sign two books per person, but that hasn't deterred crowds of people from filing in to the Barnes & Noble in New York City Monday to get Sen.Hillary Clinton's (search) signature on her new book,Living History (search).
Only the first 250 people in line will get to meet New York's junior senator and former first lady, who recounts in the book her eight years as a White House denizen. Employees of the 5th Avenue store gave the first 250 people to arrive wristbands like those handed out at rock concerts. Mobs of others stood around hoping to get a glimpse of the senator.
The first fan lined up at 9 pm the evening before, 14 hours before the senator's arrival at the store.
"I'm a big fan of Hillary's and Bill's," said Greg Packer, 39, a highway maintenance worker from Huntington. Packer was buying two books.
Richard Paice, a 36-year-old lawyer who waited in the line, described the senator as "the smartest person in politics in modern history."
He said he had no interest in Clinton's recount of theMonica Lewinsky (search) scandal, the portion of the book that has by far sparked the most publicity.
"It's difficult to get good people in public service. Why castigate them," Paice said. (I'll bet he said the same thing about Lenin, Mao, and Stalin.)
Clinton has said she was unaware of her husband, President Bill Clinton's infidelities with the White House intern until two days before he testified to a grand jury in August 1998. That was eight months after news of the affair broke.
In the book, Clinton said she believed her husband's denials and was extremely hurt by him when he finally confessed to the trysts with Lewinsky. She froze him out until she decided that he was doing more good for the country than harm.
"I have always believed ... that public officials should be judged on their public actions and that's how a voter should make a decision," Clinton said in a Monday morning television interview.
Though publisher Simon & Schuster would not give reviewers advance copies of the tome, supporters of Clinton say the book is a poignant, heartfelt memoir of her time at the White House and her life with her husband.
In an interview withBarbara Walters (search ) on Sunday night, Clinton, who said they participated in marriage counseling, said she and the former president have faced the worst together and survived.
The marriage has "been tried and tested and we are at the point now that we're looking forward ... I hope that we'll grow old together," she said.
The book has come under criticism in some quarters by those who say it is full of both evasions and omissions. They point to former presidential aideSidney Blumenthal's (search ) book, released last month, in which he writes that he heard the president and first lady bantering just days after the grand jury testimony.
Blumenthal told Fox News that no inconsistency exists between her and Clinton's claims.
Just before the signing, Clinton responded to the critics.
"This is my story and I think I don't see anything inconsistent with Sid Blumenthal's book at all, and as to anyone else, I think that both I and [Clinton attorney] David Kendall said that unfortunately relying on anonymous sources was not accurate, and what I put forward in this book is the experience that I had," Clinton said.
"I think if people read the book with an open mind they may be surprised, they may learn a few things, they may decide that maybe they weren't given a full picture of what had gone on," she added.
Publisher Simon & Schuster, which paid Clinton $8 million and issued 1 million copies in its first run, did release excerpts of the book and an interview with Clinton to Time Magazine .
In it she said he has "no intention of running for president," a decision that sits well with more than half of the public, according to an ABC news poll that found 53 percent of Americans don't want Clinton to make a go at the White House.
Two and a half years after her departure from the White House, the public still has a split view of Hillary Clinton. A Fox News-Opinion Dynamics (search) poll shows Clinton has a 44 percent favorable and a 47 percent unfavorable rating.
But critics fear Clinton is disingenuous about her plans.
"This [book] is a calculated political move to try and prepare Hillary Clinton to run for president but I don't know how she is going to do that because she is so wrapped up in left wing foil," said Republican strategist Greg Mueller.
Clinton, who will have two more book signings this week in Washington, D.C., has scheduled several more over the summer to coincide with Senate recesses. Simon & Schuster spokeswoman Victoria Meyer said the company is not releasing the tour itinerary for logistical and security reasons.
Barnes & Nobles' vice president of marketing, Bob Wietrack, predicted the memoir will be the chain's No. 1 nonfiction book of the year.
Fox News' Eric Shawn and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.1911forum.com/forums/images/smilies/pukehead.gif
Clinton Launches Huge Book Tour
Monday, June 09, 2003
NEW YORK ? She will only pen her name, no personalized greetings, and will only sign two books per person, but that hasn't deterred crowds of people from filing in to the Barnes & Noble in New York City Monday to get Sen.Hillary Clinton's (search) signature on her new book,Living History (search).
Only the first 250 people in line will get to meet New York's junior senator and former first lady, who recounts in the book her eight years as a White House denizen. Employees of the 5th Avenue store gave the first 250 people to arrive wristbands like those handed out at rock concerts. Mobs of others stood around hoping to get a glimpse of the senator.
The first fan lined up at 9 pm the evening before, 14 hours before the senator's arrival at the store.
"I'm a big fan of Hillary's and Bill's," said Greg Packer, 39, a highway maintenance worker from Huntington. Packer was buying two books.
Richard Paice, a 36-year-old lawyer who waited in the line, described the senator as "the smartest person in politics in modern history."
He said he had no interest in Clinton's recount of theMonica Lewinsky (search) scandal, the portion of the book that has by far sparked the most publicity.
"It's difficult to get good people in public service. Why castigate them," Paice said. (I'll bet he said the same thing about Lenin, Mao, and Stalin.)
Clinton has said she was unaware of her husband, President Bill Clinton's infidelities with the White House intern until two days before he testified to a grand jury in August 1998. That was eight months after news of the affair broke.
In the book, Clinton said she believed her husband's denials and was extremely hurt by him when he finally confessed to the trysts with Lewinsky. She froze him out until she decided that he was doing more good for the country than harm.
"I have always believed ... that public officials should be judged on their public actions and that's how a voter should make a decision," Clinton said in a Monday morning television interview.
Though publisher Simon & Schuster would not give reviewers advance copies of the tome, supporters of Clinton say the book is a poignant, heartfelt memoir of her time at the White House and her life with her husband.
In an interview withBarbara Walters (search ) on Sunday night, Clinton, who said they participated in marriage counseling, said she and the former president have faced the worst together and survived.
The marriage has "been tried and tested and we are at the point now that we're looking forward ... I hope that we'll grow old together," she said.
The book has come under criticism in some quarters by those who say it is full of both evasions and omissions. They point to former presidential aideSidney Blumenthal's (search ) book, released last month, in which he writes that he heard the president and first lady bantering just days after the grand jury testimony.
Blumenthal told Fox News that no inconsistency exists between her and Clinton's claims.
Just before the signing, Clinton responded to the critics.
"This is my story and I think I don't see anything inconsistent with Sid Blumenthal's book at all, and as to anyone else, I think that both I and [Clinton attorney] David Kendall said that unfortunately relying on anonymous sources was not accurate, and what I put forward in this book is the experience that I had," Clinton said.
"I think if people read the book with an open mind they may be surprised, they may learn a few things, they may decide that maybe they weren't given a full picture of what had gone on," she added.
Publisher Simon & Schuster, which paid Clinton $8 million and issued 1 million copies in its first run, did release excerpts of the book and an interview with Clinton to Time Magazine .
In it she said he has "no intention of running for president," a decision that sits well with more than half of the public, according to an ABC news poll that found 53 percent of Americans don't want Clinton to make a go at the White House.
Two and a half years after her departure from the White House, the public still has a split view of Hillary Clinton. A Fox News-Opinion Dynamics (search) poll shows Clinton has a 44 percent favorable and a 47 percent unfavorable rating.
But critics fear Clinton is disingenuous about her plans.
"This [book] is a calculated political move to try and prepare Hillary Clinton to run for president but I don't know how she is going to do that because she is so wrapped up in left wing foil," said Republican strategist Greg Mueller.
Clinton, who will have two more book signings this week in Washington, D.C., has scheduled several more over the summer to coincide with Senate recesses. Simon & Schuster spokeswoman Victoria Meyer said the company is not releasing the tour itinerary for logistical and security reasons.
Barnes & Nobles' vice president of marketing, Bob Wietrack, predicted the memoir will be the chain's No. 1 nonfiction book of the year.
Fox News' Eric Shawn and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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