Political Scandals

President Clinton is being dogged by accusations of wrongdoing involving events long before he entered the White House -- a failed real estate venture called Whitewater, Hillary Rodham Clinton's profits in commodities trading and an alleged sexual advance toward a state worker while Clinton was governor of Arkansas. The accusations dramatize the increased attention to political scandals in recent years. Yet polls show most Americans think that Whitewater has gotten too much news coverage and that the media are paying too much attention to Clinton's private life. Many experts believe an obsession with uncovering corruption and wrongdoing is hurting the political system. But they also say the media, political groups and the public show no sign of losing their appetite for scandal.