I had hoped the media's interest in Bill and Hillary Clinton's personal lives was over. No such luck.

The possibility of Bill Clinton returning to the White House he left six years ago raises some questions that are far touchier than whether Americans are ready for a “first gentleman.” As an ex-president, how much influence would he have in his wife’s administration? Will memories of the Monica Lewinsky scandal haunt Hillary Clinton’s campaign and drive away voters? What’s the status of the Clintons’ marriage — and does it matter?

In a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, 70% of Americans say Bill Clinton will do more good than harm for his wife’s campaign. Yet questions about their marriage — as well as the Lewinsky sex saga that led to Bill Clinton’s impeachment by the U.S. House in 1998 — remain close to the surface. The reminders include a stream of jokes on late-night TV and even Hillary Clinton’s own words, such as her recent joking reference to her experience with “evil and bad men.”

Please. This is entirely self-fulfilling — the media obsesses over the Clintons’ personal lives and then tells the public that the issue “remains close the surface” a decade after the Lewinsky matter. Why? Because the media says so.

Note to reporters: if you’re desperate for salacious stories about presidential candidates with scandalous pasts, there are plenty of candidates to choose from. None of them are named Clinton -- and they're all Republicans.