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Is Clintonism Dead?
The points of continuity between Clinton and Obama extend beyond staff. Obama is shaping up—much as Clinton was—as a liberal-to-moderate in most areas. In tackling national security, he has supported an escalation of military force in Afghanistan and much of the existing counterterrorism program. On politically dicey issues, such as the indefinite detention of suspected terrorists or support for gay marriage, he has avoided risky stands. Indeed, on cultural issues, his rhetoric emphasizes personal responsibility much like Clinton.
Obama’s efforts on the economy also are far from radical. He used federal funds to shore up the financial sector without great risk to investors. He has backed off campaign talk of revising NAFTA.
Obama is not a throwback to the Great Society or the New Deal. His liberalism is one born of the 1990s, when many Democrats came to marry liberal values with a more aggressive posture on national security, an acceptance of the primacy of market-based approaches to most domestic problems, and the use of social arguments about individual obligations.
What distinguishes the Obama presidency from the Clinton presidency, as much as can be said now, is not so much the man as the times. Clinton took office at the high tide of conservative Republican rule and found himself forced to scale back his expectations of what he could accomplish. Obama takes office at a time when the GOP has been discredited. The financial crisis has created for the first time in generations a chance to work with new economic solutions—even if Obama has moved cautiously to exploit that chance. Rising unemployment and weak housing markets have scared many Americans into seeking government activism when only a few years ago they were skeptical of such calls. Perhaps most important, Democrats have solid control of both chambers of Congress, with a House leader who stands with the progressive wing of her party and close to a filibuster-proof Senate. These conditions are creating immense pressure for bolder intervention and opportunities that did not exist under Clinton.
McAuliffe’s defeat, then, should be seen as just that—the defeat of a candidate with no prior elective experience who did not run a particularly good campaign, and who had banked his fortunes on money and television time rather than speaking to the people. Whether Clintonism leaves its imprint will be seen instead in whether Obama continues to govern—as he seems to be doing thus far—with the pragmatic, cautious pursuit of liberal (but not radical) goals that marked the presidency of his Democratic predecessor.
David Greenberg is a professor of history at Rutgers University and the author of three books, including Nixon’s Shadow: The History of an Image.
Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. His new book, Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security—From World War II to the War on Terrorism, will be published this fall by Basic Books. More on Zelizer can be found at www.julianzelizer.com.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Lee Siegel has written about culture and politics and is the author of three books: Falling Upwards: Essays in Defense of the Imagination; Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television; and, most recently, Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob. In 2002, he received a National Magazine Award for reviews and criticism.
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David Greenberg is a professor of history at Rutgers University and the author of three books, including Nixon’s Shadow: The History of an Image.
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Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He is the co-editor of Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the 1970s and is completing a book on the history of national-security politics since World War II, to be published by Basic Books.
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Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He is the co-editor of Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the 1970s and is completing a book on the history of national-security politics since World War II, to be published by Basic Books.
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Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He is the co-editor of Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the 1970s and is completing a book on the history of national-security politics since World War II, to be published by Basic Books.
Clinton was often referred to as " The First Black President. "
"Clintonism" died with the election of The First Black President.
Clinton focused on the economy and created budget surpluses.
Obama has destroyed the economy by creating a two trillion dollar budget deficit in just his first four months in office and a 10 trillion dollar projected deficit.
The age of the Clinton's died at the Democratic Convention. Since 1984 the Superdelegate's have been waiting for the moment when they could use their power to overrule the rest of the Dem.'s and vote for the person which they feel will lead the party best not necessary the person the rest of the Dem.'s voted for, choked and voted for the guy from Illinois (no not Lincoln the other one) and the Age of the Clinton's passed into history. Then Yoda's words came back to me "There is another".
Clinton's obituary has been written so many times I'm starting to not believe it.
Not a good story--try again.
Now that Obama has been elected PC is dying, Clintonistas are on the block if they don't make it on their own and Obama will also take the hit. I think this was a quiet transition for the Dem party as they are all fighting to stay in the political game. Clinton will still have influence and Hill might have some but he was the charisma, she just wears the pants!
Stick to something you know, squiggy.
Clinton Magic is like winning American Idol. You are not assured rock star status but you're a hell of a lot better off than you would be without it.
How true!
There wasn't an age of Clinton in the first place.
The Clintstones, Bill and Hill have made a career out of feeding at the public trough. They are worth upwards 100 million dollars which says as much about the times in which we live, as the Clintstones' talents for pocketing the loot.
God forbid something tragic happened to them I doubt we would see throngs of onlookers a mile wide and twenty blocks deep. Were a train to carry the Clintstones' remains across the land, except for TV producers and crews with talking heads from Fox and MSNBC, the turnout would be sparse, roadside curiosity seekers wanting their own cameo on the evening news.
Lets better have a row about Clintstone's mini-treasons while president, keeping covered up the triple xxx tapes of Bill having a 'nooner' with the waitress in the chinese restaurant banquet room, in Little Rock; how Bill sold secret missile technology to the Chinese so the xxx tapes wouldn't end up in the public domain his reputation and presidency in shame.
Did Clinton ever win in VA. Obama slaughtered Hillary Clinton in VA in the primaries and I know Clinton didn't win there in 1992 so 1996 seems doubtful. I don't see how failing to have a significant impact in a state where he never had a significant impact is significant. If he failed to move the arrow up in a state where he had previously enjoyed a strong following, then maybe you could draw conclusions regarding his loss of influence. Bill negatives, however, did soar during the democratic primary, but seemed to drop rapidly.
Clintonism is not dead. Clinstones are busy making as much money as any megastar possibly can. 107 million dollars and still raking it in is alot of money. Everyone lives lavishly in the inner circle including Carville. Aside from superb branding little was accomplished. However making lots of money was obviously a priority.
The abundance of comments on this topic must tell ya somethin', dears Julian Zelizer and David Greenberg
It's alive and well in President Obama. Very disappointing.
Bill Clinton appointed Ruth Ginsberg to the court. That was good.
He pretended to champion National Health Care by giving the responsibility to Hillary, under whose disorganized and completely unexperienced leadership it quietly died. Bill knew he wouldn't go to the mat for it. He only wanted to say "he tried".
"First black president" my ass. He was a liar and a do-nothing.
He didn't do sh*t for Obama.
If the "Clintonism" over, thats fine with me.
Good riddance.
Lets see if Barack Obama is serious about all his rhetoric during his campaign regarding health care.
At least he is sincerely trying to do as much good as he can to get the country on the road to recovery.
Thank you.
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