I somehow doubt that Trump’s bringing up Bill’s past exploits made Clinton seem more sympathetic, the way the Monica Lewinsky scandal did in 1998. (As you know, her approval ratings have never been higher than they were then.) I sometimes think that a lot of the young women who might have worked up more interest and sympathy and admiration for Clinton this year simply haven’t had to — their disgust for Trump is so strong that they haven’t given his opponent that much thought, one way or the other.

As for what Bill was thinking: What a great question. Jodi. I have no idea. Would love to throw it back to you. Do you think he can manage to muster up the self-righteousness so many men are feeling in the face of comments like Trump’s that it’s just “locker room talk”? Do you think his comments inspired in women the general feeling that the great locker rooms of the world need a whole lot more women in them?

Sue

Dear Sue,

We can’t read minds, but maybe to answer the Bill Clinton question we can gaze a bit into the future.

Hillary Clinton is now overwhelmingly favored to win the presidency. (Twitter got a little ahead of itself and practically held her inauguration today, after the news that Paul Ryan would no longer defend Trump.) If she does, the Clinton trio will have more historical titles than members. First female president. First husband-and-wife presidencies. First first child twice over. And first first gentleman.

In other words, Bill Clinton — a former president, one who was impeached over fidelity issues — would become our first husband in chief, at a time when gender roles are up for grabs as never before.

I don’t know what Bill will be thinking, but I can bet what everyone else will be: Everything this man does in the role will matter. How he treats his wife in public, whether he supports or steps on her. Whether he sees the traditional first-spouse duties — hosting, commemorating — as numbing, empty, inferior tasks or as part of the essential function of a healthy White House. First ladies are symbolic, but the first first husband will likely be super-symbolic.

This could be messy. Defining the Feminist Thing to Do in a woman’s White House is likely to be a running riddle, because which is the project: role reversal or wiping away outdated roles altogether?. Perhaps the first husband should smash the outdated conventions of the presidential-spouse role, do away with the floral-botanical complex for good? Publicly discuss Syria policy and environmental protection, because who made the rule that smart presidential spouses don’t discuss that stuff, anyway? But the risk of undercutting or overshadowing Hillary Clinton is great, as we saw in the 2008 race.