text: I don't take Clinton's affair lightly at all. In addition to Clinton acting badly and beneath the dignity of the presidency, the scandal had debilitating repercussions for the Democratic Party to this day. What if Al Gore, who almost certainly was personally aghast at Clinton's behavior, hadn't felt compelled to distance himself from a popular president? I agonize to think of how the the direction of the country would have been different had the disastrous George W. Bush not been appointed.