WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton says she sticks with her cheating husband because they have a “deep and abiding commitment” – but won’t say if Sexgate made her think of walking out on him.
“I am not gonna talk about that,” the First Lady told CBS anchor Dan Rather on “60 Minutes II” last night, according to a transcript of her first long interview since soon after Sexgate broke.
She also insisted she has never thought of running for president – although many Democrats suspect that’s her ultimate goal if she runs for U.S. Senate from New York.
“People have said that to me, but it’s something I don’t take seriously at all. It’s not even – it’s not even in the universe of my thinking,” she said.
She seemed uncomfortable and stumbled over her words when asked the question that a recent Post Poll found is No. 1 in the minds of New Yorkers: Why does she stay with President Clinton?
“Oh, you know, we’ve been together for, I guess … 28 years. We’ve been married, hmmm … we’ll be married 24 years this year and we have a deep and abiding commitment to one another,” she said.
“And it’s something that’s been part of our lives from … really almost from the time we met … I think that, you know, I look back on all of those years together and it’s just something that … means a great deal to both of us.”
Mrs. Clinton did not use the word “love” in responding to Rather’s question.
The interview was aired while she was on a five-day Florida vacation with her husband deciding whether to run for Senate.
“I’m still thinking about it,” she said.
Signs indicate she will run for the seat being vacated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Sources told The Post Mrs. Clinton’s ex-press secretary, Lisa Caputo, now a high-powered New York PR woman, is busy seeking a New Yorker for campaign press secretary. Caputo declined comment.
Sources also say Mrs. Clinton plans to set up a campaign exploratory committee to help pay for her trips to New York within a month or so.
State Democratic chairwoman Judith Hope said the First Lady called her yesterday from Florida and said she wants to spend part of the summer visiting families upstate “to sit in people’s living rooms” and chat.