WASHINGTON – A nostalgic President Clinton took a sentimental journey to his Arkansas birthplace yesterday – but wife Hillary stayed home to plot her future with top New York Democrats.
“My gut is she’s inclined to do it,” state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told The Post after huddling with Mrs. Clinton for almost two hours to discuss a possible Senate run by the First Lady.
In Hope, Ark., the president braved a chilly rain for the dedication of the frame house where he was born 52 years ago. He was flanked by childhood friends, two close White House aides, his brother Roger and family members who trekked in from California.
Clinton didn’t explain his wife’s absence – amid reports that the First Marriage is on the rocks after she cut short their Utah skiing vacation and dropped out of their Central America trip. The White House blamed a back injury on Mrs. Clinton’s change of plans.
In Hope, Clinton described himself as “far from perfect,” and thanked “my family and friends for … being there for me through this whole wonderful ride.”
“I still believe in a place called Hope,” he added, reprising his famous 1992 campaign cliche.
Mrs. Clinton’s spokeswoman, Marsha Berry, said the First Lady “was never scheduled” to go to Hope because she wanted some time at home before facing a busy week ahead and a coming Africa trip with daughter Chelsea.
The First Couple is expected to show up together for the first time in days when they host a “Millennium Evening” at the White House on Monday night, and Berry said other joint appearances are on the calendar.
And despite reports to the contrary, Mrs. Clinton will accompany her husband to the annual White House TV and radio correspondents’ dinner later this month, Berry said.
Meanwhile, a new poll found half of Americans expect more trouble for the president.
Fifty percent of those surveyed said they believe “there will be another Clinton scandal before the end of his term,” the Fox News/Opinion Dynamics survey found. Another 39 percent believe there will not be another scandal; 11 percent are undecided.
The White House also announced yesterday that Clinton was cutting short his weekend in Arkansas to return to Washington in the wee hours tomorrow so he could “take it easy” at home before heading to Florida on Tuesday.
Mrs. Clinton met yesterday afternoon with Silver, state Democratic Party Chairwoman Judith Hope, close pals Harold Ickes and Mandy Grunwald, and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.
Although Silver described a Hillary candidacy as “magic,” he had one key concern – her endorsement last year of an independent Palestinian state.
“A clarification of her position on that issue would be important to any campaign. She was very much amenable to that,” he said.