"You're a moron!" Hillary said about Tipper.

A simmering feud between Hillary and Tipper has exploded and now threatens to unravel the public image of cooperation in two campaigns - Al Gore's run for the presidency and Hillary's campaign for the US. Senate.

At the root of the feud is Tipper's dislike of Hillary for turning a blind eye to her husband's womanizing - and for having affairs of her own, a friend of the Gores told The ENQUIRER.

"Tipper calls Bill and Hillary 'the terrible twins.’ She's confided to friends, 'We've heard about the secret affairs - with both men and women - that have been a part of Hillary's life.

"She puts up with Bill's sexual antics because it suits her. She's always put her and Bill's political ambitions ahead of everything else."

A source close to Tipper disclosed: "Tipper thinks Hillary let Bill get away with cheating on her all these years because she didn't want anything to curb their scramble to the top.

"Tipper has learned this because as Vice President, Al has been privy to all kinds of information about the Clintons that has not been made public.

"Al is totally disgusted and has told Tipper that what has come out has been only the tip of the iceberg."

Tipper is also outraged that Bill lied to Al when he denied the Monica Lewinsky affair for seven months - leading the Vice President to publicly defend Clinton.

Now Tipper rarely mentions Clinton during campaign appearances for Al, and instead assures her audiences that her husband "will not let you down."

The feud has grown so nasty that Tipper's staffers reportedly deleted a line praising Hillary Clinton for her work on foster care from a speech Tipper was scheduled to deliver.

And Tipper is furious with Hillary for criticizing her after hearing reports that Tipper had undergone plastic surgery, a source in Washington revealed.

"Hillary said a face-lift is a frivolous waste of money.

"Hillary wanted to provoke Tipper into confessing that 10 years has disappeared off her face.

"Then Hillary was seen visiting a plastic surgeon in New York, and it burned Tipper.

"Hillary had been implying that Tipper had nothing better to do and she was after cosmetic surgery herself!"

Another bone of contention between the two women is Tipper's belief that Hillary has siphoned off Democratic funds from Al - including up to $120 million in "soft money" from political action groups, said the Washington source.

"Tipper believes that if Gore loses, it will be Hillary's fault."

Tipper refers to Hillary as "the wicked witch of the East," a Washington insider added.

"And in Gore's war room, a 'b' is sometimes substituted for the 'w' in 'witch.'

"Gore almost had a heart attack when Hillary confirmed she was going to run for the Senate. It was his worst nightmare.

"It's one more act of selfishness on Hillary's part," an aide said. "She's consumed with ambition that could cost Al his whole political future."

For her part, Hillary has looked down on Tipper as "intellectually inferior," said a Washington insider.

"Hillary made fun of Tipper's attack on rock 'n' roll music and their lyrics."

Hillary has referred to Tipper as a "moron" to close pals. And sources say Hillary is jealous of Tipper and her still-passionate 30-year marriage.

Said a White House insider: "Hillary and Tipper got off to a bad start during the cramped togetherness of the 1992 election campaign tour bus when Bill flirted shamelessly with Tipper.

"Tipper's very pretty, very funny, and she's a free spirit. Just look at Gennifer Flowers or Dolly Kyle Browning - big blousy blondes - and you know Tipper's exactly Bills type.

"Tipper would just throw her head back and laugh like it was a big joke. But Hillary wasn't laughing."

An inside source disclosed: "Hillary has long had trouble with Tipper’s appearance, privately criticizing her fashion sense as either 'too frumpy' or 'trying to be too sexy’."

And Hillary knows Tipper's feelings about her, added the inside source.

"Once at a breast cancer event, Hillary thought she saw Tipper snickering at her while she was speaking."

The feud isn't likely to subside even after the election, said the close source.