Posted on 02/05/2003 7:23:19 AM PST by Liz
With all the campaign focus on Lieberman, Kerry, Edwards, Gephardt and company, the last man you'd think anyone would be worried about is Bill Clinton.
After all, he's constitutionally barred from running again.
Yes, we know everyone's expecting Hillary to try to reclaim her old mansion in '08. Tim Russert said the other day that she landed a spot on the Senate Armed Services Committee as a bit of political positioning for that post-Dubya campaign. But the former first lady surely realizes she's a divisive figure in the country. She seems to be enjoying her new job. Maybe she'll run, maybe she won't.
In any event, it's Bill who's causing all the buzz.
Maybe it's the way he keeps piping up scolding the Democrats for timidity after the '02 debacle, criticizing Bush's foreign policy last week. Maybe it's the fact that he's quietly advising the other White House wannabes. Maybe there's a wistfulness for an economy that seemed to roar during his tenure and is barely squeaking now.
Maybe he seems larger than life because the others, with Gore out, face a stature gap that's often unavoidable at this early stage of the game.
Maybe journalists miss the guy because his tabloid adventures were such good copy.
Or maybe it's the simple fact that he was the only Democrat since FDR to win a second term.
Whatever the explanation, Clintonism still looms large on the Democratic landscape, just as Reaganism did after Ronnie stepped down (and has made a comeback, both in terms of policy and personnel, under Bush 43). The Dems may be ready to move on to the next historical phase, but no one is quite sure what that is or who will lead the way.
The Nation's William Greider grapples with the Clinton legacy:
"If the Democratic Party in exile is ever to find a new voice and sense of purpose, it will first have to get around a peculiar obstacle left behind by the Clinton era: The man did not really go away. Other former presidents went home gracefully when their terms ended and essentially disappeared from national politics. Bill Clinton is keeping his hand in, also his handsome face and savvy intellect, plus his insider influence as strategist and money-raiser."
--SNIP--
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
More like b/c the Clintons were the lowest lowlifes that ever occupied the WH.
It speaks volumes about the remaining candidates when the absense of Algore (The Delusionary Tree) causes a "stature gap"!
Someone needs to get off of his knees and spit.
Oh right. I'm gonna be sick.
Someone please post that pic of the big pimple on his red nose!
.....and then rinse his mouth out!
How's this for a makeover?
Or, as he is commonly known on FR, "The Tree."
Yeah, well we all know where.....
Just like crooked land deals and S&L fraud roared during his tenure as governor of Arkansas. They're barely squeaking now as well.
"I ain't nuttin' but a hound dog."
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