Clinton Ditches Campaign Trail for Caribbean

April 6, 2007 — -- She's been running for three months and it's time for a break.

The Clinton family is ditching the public spotlight for private sunshine, escaping to an exclusive enclave owned by Oscar de la Renta in the renowned fashion designer's native Dominican Republic.

Life's a Beach

The former first family -- recently announced candidate, former president, and daughter Chelsea in tow -- will spend the long holiday weekend at the Punta Cana Resort and Club.

Nevada's Brian Greenspun, a publishing and real estate mogul who also serves as editor in chief of the Las Vegas Sun, will join the power couple, making the trip not entirely R&R.

Nevada is, after all, the state that stuck its presidential caucus in between Iowa and New Hampshire.

This is the first vacation Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has taken since jumping into the presidential race.

The last Clinton getaway was to the tropical island of Anguilla with Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, and one of the nation's few African-American billionaires.

Sheila C. Johnson, co-founder of BET and Johnson's ex-wife, has endorsed rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and will host a Washington fundraiser this month to put an exclamation point on her choice.

Clinton first visited the Dominican Republic in 1999 when her husband was still in the White House. The Clintons returned as a couple in 2000, and have since made annual trips.

Clintons of the Carribbean

The Carribbean has not always been kind to the Clintons.

On one particularly memorable trip, the Clintons, just prior to news of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the president's subsequent impeachment trial, escaped to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

During the six-day trip, a French photographer shot candid images of the presidential couple dancing on the beach.

In her autobiography "Living History," Clinton described the incident: "One afternoon midway through the trip, Bill and I put on our bathing suits and ventured down the beach for a swim. Unbeknownst to us, a photographer from Agence France-Presse, the French wire service, was hiding in the bushes on a public beach across the bay. He must have had a powerful telephoto lens, because the next day a photo of us slow-dancing on the beach appeared in newspapers around the world."

Clinton, in her take on what she hopes will be the couple's first stay in the White House, continued to write, "Obviously the incident raised questions about security as well as privacy. If you're close enough to take a picture with a telephoto lens, if you're close enough to shoot a gun with a scope. Bill wasn't upset. He liked the photo."

Candid Candidates

Recent photos of Obama, Clinton's rival on the trail and apparently the beach as well, were captured by People magazine during the political wunderkind's New Year's trip to Hawaii, where Obama lived for several years as a child.

Obama called the photo of him shirtless and striding out of the surf "embarrassing," insisting to congressional reporters after a news conference presumably not on the subject of the senator's pecs, "I have no idea what beach it was taken on."

No matter their desire for privacy this time around, the Clintons won't be dipping into that record-shattering campaign war chest (the FEC would probably have something to say about that) to pay for their trip.

Although $26 million (nearly matched, incidentally, by Obama, whose campaign raised more primary cash than the veteran Clinton camp) could certainly guarantee privacy. But Oscar de la Renta's pad on an island known for its merengue music and warm weather should suffice.

Alberto Abreau, general manager of the Punta Cana Resort and Club (on which de la Renta's house is located), confirms that the Clintons are guests.

The resort's restaurant is only a three-minute drive away, although there may be no need for such inconvenience; de la Renta's house has a full staff, including a private chef.

Other specialties at the resort include water sports, a Six Senses Spa (specializing in Thai massage) and PADI scuba diving.

But with an 80-degree weather forecast for the Carribbean and $26 million in the bank, perhaps another beach dance is in order.