Clinton comes up with his trump card – Willey’s cards!

Within a month of their meeting, Willey wrote Clinton a note wishing him a `Wonderful Christmas’ and thanking him for “the opportunity to work in this great house.” She added that she hoped that she would get a “meaningful job” in the White House.

She was promoted from anunpaid volunteer to a paid secretarial job in the White House counsel’s office several months later.In another effusive card, she wrote “Dear Mr. President: You have been on my mind so often this week — There are so very many people who believe in you and what you are trying to do for our country. Take heart in knowing that your number one fan thanks you every day for your help in saving her wonderful state — With appreciation, Kathleen.”

While none of the notes can be described as having a come hither tone, they were nevertheless friendly, even gushing. In one of the letters, Willey signed off as “fondly”.

Clinton said at a public appearance on Monday that “Nothing improper happened. I am mystified and disappointed by this turn of events.”But the new revelations were already beginning to chip away support for the President, particularly from women, who have been unwavering in their admiration for him. “It was really hard to listen to… It really is sexual assault if what happened happened. Itmakes my skin crawl. You get nauseous thinking, `Yuck, I don’t want to hear this,” former Democratic Congresswoman Pat Schoeder said of the CBS broadcast.

The difficulty Clinton’s spin doctors are having in undermining Willey’s credibility is because she is a long time Democrat, an obvious Clinton fan, and not part of a Right-wing conspiracy or trailer park trash (Paula Jones), nor a fortune seeker (Gennifer Flowers), or a star struck intern (Monica Lewinsky).

“The previous allegations were very troubling, but it was possible to construct an alternative explanation. It is very difficult to come up with an explanation that excuses the President’s behavior in this case. So the only alternative is just not to believe her. And I thought she was very credible,” Republican Senator Susan Collins was quoted as saying.Still, Presidential aides suggested on Monday that Willey was driven to CBS `60 Minutes’ by the prospect of a book deal her lawyer is said to have initiated on her behalf.

Soon after hersecretarial stint at the White House ended, Willey wrote another note to the President saying, “I have invested almost three years with your campaign and administration and am not very willing to depart yet.

I would like to be considered for an ambassadorship or a position in an embassy overseas.”

Subsequently, Clinton sent her to two overseas Government conferences in Copenhagen and Jakarta and named her to the board of the United Service Organisation.