Clinton acquittal: And now it's back to

WHEN BILL CLINTON walked out into the sunlight of the White House Rose Garden after his Senate acquittal, he affected the gravest of miens, and he was alone. Walking slowly and deliberately to his lectern, his appearance was calculated to send two messages.

First, it said he understood that any expression of joy or defiance would be out of place: even though he had been acquitted, he had not been completely absolved. It said, second, that the Monica Lewinsky affair had taken a personal as well as a political toll: this was no time to play "Happy families"- he was paying a price at home, as at work.

Solitary and soulful, the President's appearance also left tantalisingly open the question of the Clinton marriage. Whither Bill and Hillary Clinton now that the public drama of impeachment is finally over?

For Hillary Clinton, the past year was the worst and the best of years. It was the worst because, if her husband's 17 August confession is true, it was only then she learnt of his long-standing betrayal. It was the worst because her glorious defence of him was proved humiliatingly wrong, and because she could not open a newspaper or switch on a television without seeing the image of the "other woman". She had also to watch her daughter tormented by the sins of her father.

But it was also the best of years. She survived these personal traumas with a dignity and style that became her. Her public image was infinitely enhanced. For the first time since becoming First Lady, her popularity ratings soared above even those of her husband. She attracted admiration and sympathy from across the political spectrum, and across the gender divide.

Men who had found her cool and intimidating stood in awe. Non-working women who had been her least friendly constituency approved of her loyalty to her marriage and warmed to her. Those of a feminist disposition were grateful. Snagged between abhorrence for the President's behaviour with Monica Lewinsky (an affair with a junior employee in the workplace) and their support for his women-friendly policies, Mrs Clinton's support for her husband let them off an extremely awkward hook. "If it's all right by Hillary, it's all right by us,' they said, and left on one side the vexed question of whether it was really "all right" for the President to have affairs with trainees.

Through the November congressional election campaign, Mrs Clinton came into her own as the Democrats' most effective warrior. While her husband, burdened by the Lewinsky scandal, limited his travel and public exposure, she crossed the country time and again in the party's cause. Greeted everywhere with standing ovations and ecstatic applause, she was credited with clinching two of the Democrats' most stunning Senate victories and spearheading their comeback.

Inevitably, perhaps, Hillary Clinton was at once hailed as a potential candidate in her own right. And when Daniel Pat Moynihan, the respected Senator from New York, announced that he would retire in the year 2000, it was her name that was mentioned. Laughed off at the outset as improbable, the idea continues to garner support. Ambitious New York Democrats have stood gallantly aside, and the nomination - if not the seat - is now hers for the asking.

Mrs Clinton has so far maintained a discreet silence on the subject, letting it be known through her spokeswoman only that she is "flattered" by the support and is only now turning her attention to the prospect. Pat Moynihan meanwhile is said to be impatient for her to make up her mind, because until she does, no one else can start the all-important fundraising.

Standing for the New York Senate seat, however, presents the First Lady with several dilemmas. One would be the propriety of running for political office while her husband is President. Another would be the lack of a local powerbase. Yet another would be the uncertainty of winning: a "dream contest", one commentator said, would be Hillary Clinton vs Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Other seats become vacant after her husband leaves office where her suit could be stronger.

But does Mrs Clinton want to enter the cut and thrust of national politics just as her husband is leaving it? Her name has been mentioned in connection with international work, for the UN or charities, fostering some of the causes she assisted as First Lady; law professorships have also been mentioned.

The other question, on which much must depend, is the future of her marriage. New York State is one of the few that does not require candidates to establish residence in advance - one wag said she would be fine if she just rented a hotel room for the night of the election. But a decision to run would inevitably mean that she spent less time in Washington; it would also establish that she was embarking upon a political life of her own after three decades in the shadow of her husband.

Mr Clinton has been as reticent as his wife, although everything that can be divined about their admittedly mysterious marriage suggests that he would never stand in her way. That seemed to be supported when he quipped recently that he might be "increasingly known as the person who comes with Hillary to New York".

In the past year, three Hillarys have been on display. On 27 January there was the female tigress, fighting for her man against a "vast right- wing conspiracy" intent on removing him from office. When the Clintons left for their Martha's Vineyard holiday on 18 August, the day after his televised confession to the nation that he lied, Mrs Clinton was the wronged wife standing by her man and stoically keeping her family together.

During the election campaign, she was the independent woman who could make it by herself if she so decided, a larger and livelier edition of the the First Lady who, to her amazement, had drawn a crowd of thousands when she spoke earlier in the year - in upstate New York, as it happened - at the centennial of the early feminist, Susan B Anthony.

The best guess is that we'll see more of the third Hillary and less of the first two. There can be no doubt that her husband's liaison was devastating. Though clearly experienced in his philandering ways, she reportedly believed that the risks of a dalliance in the White House were minimal: someone would notice. Not only did her husband lie to her, as he lied to his staff and the country, but he lived the lie with her for nearly four years, before it burst into the public domain for all the world to see.

Even worse perhaps, he seems to have felt at least some affection for the young trainee, chatting to her not just about life and love, but about policy areas that Hillary thought of as her domain. As Monica embarks on television interviews and an international tour to promote her book, Mrs Clinton will have to suffer over and over.

It would be easy to forecast her taking an apartment in New York and dividing her time between Washington and Manhattan, finally ending the marriage - formally in divorce, or informally in separation - when her husband leaves office. He would fly off to a multimillion dollar position in the California sunshine, while she remained out east. Might Monica's dream come true, and her "Handsome" be alone - as she says he hinted - at the end of his presidency?

This romantic scenario, however, ignores another romance: the clear bond that unites the Clintons so often when they appear together, the spark of affinity, even mutual adoration, that ignites when they share a platform. Any depiction of the Clintons' marriage as a political partnership and no more ignores that spark. They may row, she may throw things and he may sulk, but this still looks more than a business partnership.

America's formidable army of agony aunts might well advise Mrs Clinton to go her own way, give up on this man and seek her own destiny. Maybe she will. His devastation would be as great as hers this past year - and all the greater for being self-inflicted.

My hunch, for what it is worth, is that - in greater or lesser proximity - she will stay. If she runs for New York, he will beat the campaign trail to get her elected. If she prefers international work, or a professorship perhaps to be closer to her daughter, he'll support that too. And will they exchange Valentines today? You bet they will.