First Lady Blames Anti-Arkansas Bias for Woes

WASHINGTON — When the allegations involving her husband and former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky arose seven months ago, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton attributed the investigation to a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” Now, she is blaming her husband’s legal difficulties on anti-Arkansas bias as well.

“I think a lot of this is prejudice against our state,” the first lady said in a telephone interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published Tuesday. “They wouldn’t be doing this if we were from some other state.”

Political consultant James Carville, who has worked closely with both Clintons, said: “I think that she, with considerable justification, believes that people are trying to stack the deck against her husband.”

Former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said the outsider theme was a familiar refrain for Clinton. “Now it’s the elite in Washington who are lining up against us because we’re not one of them,” Myers said. “That’s something that she’s felt from the day they arrived in Washington.”