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Is Clintonism Dead?
Charles Dharapak / AP Photo
Did “Clintonism” go down with Terry McAuliffe in Virginia? David Greenberg and Julian Zelizer say that, if you look at the Obama administration, you’ll find the philosophy alive and well.
With Terry McAuliffe going down to defeat in the Virginia Democratic primary for governor, many bloggers are heralding the death of Clintonism. In the Los Angeles Times, Johanna Neuman wrote that Clinton’s attacks on Obama during the primaries “have dimmed his star and, with it, those of his acolytes.”
But it would be a mistake to read the Virginia primary as a referendum on Bill Clinton’s legacy. More often than not, staffers and advisers—especially those without experience running for office—fail to make the leap into elective politics, and there is considerable evidence that Clintonism survives in the Obama administration.
Obama is not a throwback to the Great Society or the New Deal. His liberalism is one born of the 1990s.
Running for elected office is different from serving in a popular administration, and the aura of the chief executive does not usually shine onto the campaign trail. More than a hundred years ago, George Cortelyou, who served as Theodore Roosevelt’s press and Treasury secretaries, saw his 1908 presidential bid fizzle—despite having run a great campaign for TR four years earlier. James Mitchell, who served as secretary of Labor under Dwight Eisenhower, ran for governor in his home state of New Jersey in 1961 and was favored to win. Mitchell attacked John F. Kennedy for his growth-stifling policy of “spending for the sake of spending.” But his opponent, Richard Hughes, a lawyer who had been involved in New Jersey politics since the 1930s, went on to victory.
Kennedy’s own advisers likewise failed to translate their patron’s star power into votes. In 1964, Kennedy’s charismatic former press secretary Pierre Salinger was deemed a likely winner over the actor George Murphy in the California Senate race. But even as Lyndon Johnson swamped Barry Goldwater at the top of the ticket—winning California along the way—Salinger lost. Kennedy speechwriter Ted Sorensen ran for Senate in New York in 1970. Sorensen played up his experience with the Kennedys and was greeted like a celebrity on the trail—but still lost. Perhaps most unsuccessful was Sargent Shriver, a Kennedy in-law, who abandoned bids for governor of Maryland and Illinois, lost as the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee in 1972, and got nowhere in seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976. Despite all these losses, though, no one talked about a rejection of the Kennedy legacy.
The list of failed bids by presidential advisers continued into later decades. As recently as 2002, some claimed that Clinton’s legacy was diminished when his Labor Secretary Robert Reich did poorly in the Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial primary, his Attorney General Janet Reno lost in the Florida Democratic primary, and his chief of staff, Erksine Bowles, lost a bid for a North Carolina Senate seat (losing to Elizabeth Dole—one of the few recent success stories of former Cabinet officials seeking office). Rahm Emanuel and Bill Richardson did win elective office that year, but what seems to have distinguished the winners from the losers was not their connection to Clinton but their personality and campaigning skills, as well as the peculiarities of each race.
If unelected presidential advisers don’t typically make a mark by winning elective office, they can wield influence by advising presidents. So far, Clintonites have done extremely well in landing top positions within the Obama administration. Secretary of State Clinton, Chief of Staff Emanuel, and economic adviser Lawrence Summers are the most prominent. The middle ranks of the White House are stocked with thirty- and fortysomethings with service in the Clinton administration.
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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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