Cruiser, thanks for answering. I can respect your position, although I don't necessarily agree 100%, and I appreciate your clarification on how Gore and Mrs. Clinton made a negative impression through the incident.

I think the real damage to the presidency was done by Nixon, and the office hasn't recovered since (although Regan seemed to be able to do anything he wanted, for some reason). I have to wonder if maybe Obama has the right idea--he said something about cynical attitudes on the part of most americans, along with their feeling of disconnection with the people in charge, have led to a lot of shenanigans in the White House. Didn't that cynicism get started somewhere between LBJ and Nixon? I wasn't born yet, so I don't know first hand, but if any of you old guys want to share...