Let's say the lady's running — way out in front of every other contender. But the race may take her back ceaselessly into the past, as F. Scott Fitzgerald ended "The Great Gatsby."

The ghost of President Clinton's impeachment is being raised from the dead to give Hillary Clinton heartburn in her quest to run for president. The aim is to implicate her and tarnish her character by tarring both Clintons with one brush. Very clever and original.

And what a surprise. A woman who's done a stellar job as Secretary of State should publicly answer to her pain at her husband's infidelity? Mrs. Clinton's behavior as first lady was, well, unimpeachable. Why should she share in his shame?

That ole dog won't hunt, Senator. Leave it lie.

Senator Rand Paul, a little-known Kentucky Republican presidential hopeful, and his wife Kelley are casting aspersions on Bill Clinton's amorous conduct with a young woman forevermore stamped on our memory, Monica Lewinsky.

Maureen Dowd, the op-ed columnist for The New York Times, aired their views and criticized both Clintons for their 1999 actions. She suggested Mrs. Clinton stayed by the president's side because she intended to run for Senate in 2000.

The Clintons are the closest thing we have to a real-life great American novel — even with shades of "The Scarlet Letter." Certainly, there was mass hysteria in the Washington air 16 years ago, a mood mirroring Puritan Salem's fury at witchcraft. It was palpable.

To my mind, Lewinsky — who was largely working in the Pentagon for pay, not as an intern — fell deeply in love with the president. Simple as that. That's not a crime. She was of age. If you read the pages of what happened, consensually, as we all did in Washington, it's clear sexual harassment was not at work, so to speak. The allegations against Clarence Thomas were far more serious.

I for one felt sorry Lewinsky was practically under house arrest for months in the Watergate, because of the press encampment. She didn't deserve any of it.

As president, Clinton was relentlessly pursued and interrogated by prosecutors from Kenneth Starr's chamber. Humiliated before his family and the nation, he made an apology and apparently atoned for his sin. If he lied under oath, as some claim, my sense is that those questions should never even be asked. The constitution was never at stake.

This is not to defend Bill Clinton's conduct or judgment, but the president's private life should not be invaded with an inquisition. That was in the last year of the 20th century, once upon a time ago and in a land of peace and prosperity. The Clinton administration did very well by women. Now the president's most zealous persecutors among House Republican leaders turned out to have sinned in the same way.

Can we let it go now?

Hopefully, we won't relive that undignified hour of the republic, but much depends on Bill Clinton. Here's the Big Guy's chance to make it up to Hillary. He's now a global political rock star who best be on his best behavior. With the Clintons, there's always a hint of danger or larger-than-life excess; that's what keeps us avidly reading their book.

On the summer day it all broke loose, Hillary Clinton's spokeswoman said with understatement, "This is not the best day of Mrs. Clinton's life." The first lady let it be known her husband deceived her, too, which showed a streak of independence and presence of mind.

Yes, Hillary was furious and yes, Bill slept on the couch — she said so in her memoir. But they patched up their marriage with glue and stitches. Snide skeptics said it was a political bargain, George Will most of all.

The Clintons stayed together through the storm. And here they are, still together in 2014. Maybe that's not good enough for some who think, with great Southern novelist William Faulkner, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."

To find out more about Jamie Stiehm, and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.