I know there were allegations out even during his 1992 presidential campaign, but did people (particularly his supporters, who were not politically biased in favor of believing the allegations) find them credible? Or was much attention paid to them? I seem to recall that pre-Lewinsky Saturday Night Live's jokes about Clinton involved him supposedly being a fast-food loving hillbilly rather than an adulterer, so does that portrayal mirror the contemporary perception of him?
Oh, yes. It was part of his image from the instant he began his campaign for the 1992 presidential election. That campaign began in October 1991, when Clinton became the fifth mainstream Democratic candidate for the nomination. Tabloid newspapers immediately seized upon rumors (already circulating in Arkansas) that Clinton had had a 12-year affair with Gennifer Flowers that ended in 1989.
So great was the furor over Clinton's believed (and later, proven) infidelity that it threatened to end the campaign before it began. To counter the accusations, Clinton agreed to appear on *60 Minutes" alongside his wife to discuss the issue. This was a huge deal: CBS had the Super Bowl that year, and Clinton's interview followed that broadcast.
In the interview, Clinton defended himself (largely successfully, in the eyes of pundits) and while the issue did not entirely go away (nor would it for the rest of his presidential tenure), that 60 Minutes interview would go on to mark an upward turning point in his candidacy ─ and a downward turning point in the public's perception of Hillary Clinton.