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Thursday, January 29, 1998

Former senator Alan Simpson says Clinton has sex addiction

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- President Clinton needs to admit he has a sex "compulsion" and should consider entering a program to combat the addiction, former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson says.

"This man has a problem. It is a compulsion, an illness," said Simpson, a Republican from Wyoming who retired from the Senate in 1996.

"It would be good maybe if he entered into a 12-step program. It is just as much an addiction as gambling or booze," Simpson said Tuesday in a speech sponsored by Trinity University.

The audience listened quietly to Simpson's comments about allegations that Clinton was involved in a sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky and then asked her to lie about it. The president has denied the allegations.

"It's a sad situation, and no one should take glee in this -- that is, unless you do not care to think about how Chelsea may feel about this, how Hillary may feel," Simpson said, referring to the president's daughter and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Simpson said reports of a "bimbo control" group around Clinton in his first campaign for president was a clue Clinton might have a problem.

"What the hell is a guy running for office doing with a bimbo control around him?" Simpson said.

Simpson said he believes Americans might rally behind Clinton if he admits to having an addiction and said Clinton could own up to having a sex problem without admitting to specific allegations involving Ms. Lewinsky.

Twelve-step recovery programs are based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. They have been expanded to include people suffering from other problems such as compulsive gambling, drug addiction and sex addiction.

"The American people are very forgiving in nature, and there are a lot of 12-steppers in this country -- for all kinds of things," Simpson said.

"But, what they (Americans) don't like is hypocrisy and the person who talks family values and then shacks up with everyone on the west side of the Rockies," he said.

Simpson, who served 18 years in the Senate, currently heads the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.