Reply #215: Sen Clinton may win

[Alcibiades]

The Republicans have misruled so badly that their party may be so thoroughly repudiated by the electorate that it becomes the party of Southern White Christian males, and only them. Bloomberg's move yesterday anticipates this.

So even a Hillary could win, warts and all. There is a fly in the ointment, however. Back in '88, I warned every Democrat I talked to about Clinton's zipper problem. "So what?" was what I got in reply too often (and my own preferred candidate at that time, Rev. Jackson, has hardly proved a saint himself). The problem was that the Lewinsky thing, and Whitewater, and Vince Foster, and whatever else, kept the White House from getting anything of substance accomplished. Lots of folks love to speak about the Clintons as though they were master PR spinners, but that's not the case. Clinton barely survived (politically) his presidency, but only because he and his staff were dedicated 100% to survival, not getting things done for the Democratic base.

We also need someone who has a demonstrable track record in Congress. Clinton's biggest (though still underwhelming) accomplishments were all under Republican Congresses. Let's hope they don't stab our president in the back the way the Democratic Congress did with Clinton, and an earlier Democratic Congress did with Carter (we have a long, sad history of doing this, however).

Finally, it is worth noting that Scaife, at least, has admitted that going after the Clintons was a mistake, that, in retrospect (i.e. comparison to W), Bill wasn't all that bad. Let's hope he stays true to his word and stays out, and other right-wingers also come down with buyer's remorse.