Speak to Us, Bill!
Wendy Radmacher-Willis
As my neighbor puts it, we are in the third day of the Second Reich, and we need help. We need someone to tell us that we will be ok, that there is a way out of this morass, that modernism isn’t dead. We need Bill Clinton!
President Clinton knows, really knows, that universal health care and preemptive war are moral issues. We are not in the wilderness. Progressives have a moral framework; we just can’t be afraid to talk about it. Bill Clinton is not afraid of the lexicon of morality. This is the time for him to cement his legacy.
Bill Clinton, we need you now – to speak, to remind us who we are, to talk us off the ledge.
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7:45 p.m.
Nov 5, '04
Amen, Wendy. I need to hear somebody who can give me hope, who can bring me out of despair and direct my energy towards positive action. Somebody needs to rescue the Democratic party and help us rise from the ashes to fight again. Let's hope an FOB out there is listening and can pass along our plea.
7:46 p.m.
Nov 5, '04
Bill Clinton, according to Newsweek also urged Kerry to come out in favor of all the state-level gay marriage bans.
Screw him. Keep him out of our politics.
Nov 5, '04
Hey b!X, in case you didn't notice, gay marriage as an issue, while a worthy issue, might not have done much to get rid of W. There are a lot of issues out there that affect everyone, gay and straight alike, and when electing leaders I think we have to keep an eye on many issues. Let's face it, as cool as he might be, Gavin Newsom isn't going to win the presidency anytime soon.
8:02 p.m.
Nov 5, '04
Well, I certainly can't stop you if you feel comfortable with the idea of seeking guidance for the party from the Bill Clinton who told John Kerry to come out in favor of laws which discriminate against people.
8:06 p.m.
Nov 5, '04
Which is to say this: It's one thing to play the mushy have-it-both-ways on the gay marriage issue, the way the Dems played it this year. It offended me, but I understood the realpolitic calculus of it.
But for Clinton to urge Kerry to come out in favor of discrimination in order to win the presidency is beyond the pale, and is the worst kind of pandering exploitation of people's prejudices.
Clinton should be ashamed of himself. And good for Kerry for telling Clinton there's no way he would ever back those state measures.
Nov 5, '04
That was yesterday, this is today. The days of Bill are over, and yearning for them is like wishing that Ozzie and Harriet were back. We must move forward and find the spirit and voices in ourselves that have been influenced by people like Bill, but at the same time, realize it's now our turn and move on. Yesterday got us to well, earlier this week. We must find another path.
12:12 a.m.
Nov 6, '04
Clinton was the best president of my lifetime, but asking him to deliver us, or even to don Dr. King's robe, is asking way too much. That guy survived an onslaught the likes of which I wouldn't even wish on Dubya. He underwent bypass, the New American Witchhunt, marital troubles (which are none of your fucking business, wingnuts) and wrote a bestselling autobiography, which I'd be happy and proud to lend my copy of to you or any other of my fellow Democratic patriots, Wendy.
I'm serious - I love that guy like family, even if I probably made his Watch List after the flame I sent him on CDA. But he's earned a break from being Democratic America's Official Tour Guide to the Mountaintop, and I'm inclined to give it to him.
I'll take my inspiration, instead, from any number of the people who are offering it right now: Barack Obama. Ron Wyden. Earl Blumenauer. David Wu. Randy Leonard. Darlene Hooley. Howard Dean. The Right Honorable Reverend Albert Sharpton. Wesley Clark. Dennis Kucinich. Richard Morrison. Colonel David Hackworth. The list goes on and on.
None of these folks were or are perfect. But I see greatness in all of them. After that, it's just a matter of taste.
3:07 a.m.
Nov 6, '04
Want to get some inspiration? Look to young voters. Go to www.musicforamerica.org and scroll down to their electoral map, as it would be drawn if 18-29 year olds had made the presidential decision. Electoral result: Kerry 375, Bush 163. Not only are Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania all blue on that map, so are Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and ALABAMA.
18-29s came out in their highest numbers since 1972. These are the people we need to keep engaged with progressive causes. These are the people that can help us bridge the red state/blue state divide and find a progressive message that resonates beyond the West and East Coasts and the urban Midwest.
3:10 a.m.
Nov 6, '04
Guess I should have noticed that there's a whole other thread about this very issue...
Nov 6, '04
Certainly, I am not suggesting that we should try to recreate the Clinton preisdency or that we should nurse our wounds with nostalgia for yesterday. Without a doubt, Bill Clinton disppointed us many times.
But, here is what we can say about him: Bill Clinton was able to connect with voters without engaging in intellectual-baiting; Bill Clinton was not afraid to rely on his personal faith while not using it as a tool for fear-mongering; Bill Clinton was able to idetify with those Americans who now see the Democratic Party as filled with the arrogant, disdainful elite while staying (relatively) faithful to his base.
I look with hope to our leaders of the future, not the least of whom is Barack Obama. But, for the same reason I keep feeling the urge to eat an entire bowl of mashed potatos, today I need the comfort of hearing from Bill.
8:28 a.m.
Nov 6, '04
Maybe Hillary should try to rally the troops. Anyone out there an FOH?
9:42 a.m.
Nov 6, '04
<quote>Well, I certainly can't stop you if you feel comfortable with the idea of seeking guidance for the party from the Bill Clinton who told John Kerry to come out in favor of laws which discriminate against people.</quote>
Bill's a crafty one. There's a difference between what you say and what you do. The Republicans have learned that big time. "Compassionate conservative"? "I support the assault weapons ban." I think Pres. Clinton was thinking along the same lines here. Short term sacrifice (with no action) with long term gains.
Nov 6, '04
It's time to relinquish our hold on Bill, a man elected to the presidency 12 years ago. We do so because he was the only guy who could win national office, not because he was adept at foreign policy. The man who ended welfare (sans reform), corporatized the Democratic Party, and declared "an end to big government as we know it" was a politician for a different time.
10:41 a.m.
Nov 6, '04
Maybe Hillary should try to rally the troops. Anyone out there an FOH?
Hillary's time will never come, if the party knows what's good for it. Turning to Hillary would be handing the GOP the White House for yet another term.
10:51 a.m.
Nov 6, '04
Hillary is incredible, but she should look to be the next Ted Kennedy -- which is to say, the lion of our party, the liberal core of the Senate, leading that body for the next 30 years. Running for president would be a giant disaster.
Someday, soon, a woman will be president. If the GOPers have their way and pass the Arnold amendment, it might even backfire on them.
Nov 6, '04
Are you insane?
Bill Clinton = welfare "reform" + NAFTA + Defense of Marriage Act + "Don't ask, don't tell" + Democratic Leadership Council + major corporate donors = Nader was right in 2000 and 2004 that the Democratic party has completely sold it's "soul" and cannot be trusted = "wolves/Republicans/corporatists in sheep's/donkey's clothing."
3:38 p.m.
Nov 6, '04
I don't want Hillary to run either. What I think Wendy was saying--and what I am saying--is that somebody needs to speak to the base right now and turn our despair over the election into action. We're talking about a speech, people, not a campaign or the next President.
Nov 6, '04
What we really need is the Democratic Party to realize that change on a grand level needs to happen now.
A speech is NOT the answer at all. In fact, I think speeches are the problem. Talk talk talk becomes same old same old. We need new blood in the party and new ideas that match the times we're living in. We need a party that speaks to everyday people. We need the south and the midwest. These people work... they have families...
The Republican party should be the party of millionaires, and hard core born again bible beaters. Instead, it is becoming the majority because it is doing a better job of repositioning the democratic party than democrats are doing of speaking to everyday people.
NEVER FORGET that WE are the choir. We stick with our party even in its dark times. Anything done for our sake is a waste of time. The democratic party needs to reconnect with THE MASSES.
Bill Clinton was an example of what charisma can do for a leader, but he came and went without another to follow. And to be honest, even if Kerry had won, he'd have gotten little done because we don't have majorities in the senate or house.
We don't need a candidate. We need a party that inspires young people to get involved. We need tomorrow's leaders, and we need them badly.
Nov 6, '04
...as for Hilary... Much as I hate to say this, b!X is right. I adore Hilary, and I have so much respect for her - but the average person in this country is not ready for a woman president. If she runs, she guarantees Republicans four more years, no matter who they run against her.
By average person, think about a guy living in Lexington Kentucky. Think about someone in Montana. Idaho. Alabama for chrissssakes! South Carolina. South Dakota.
There are an awful lot of red states out there... and if you look at it county by county, red counties outnumber blue counties by something like four to one. I've posed the county by county map on my site if you haven't already seen it. Scary stuff!
I love Hilary!!!! But she will do more harm than good because there are a lot more ignorant people than smart people in this country.
1:36 a.m.
Nov 7, '04
Jalpuna says, Think about someone in Montana.
Yeah, I sure am. Kerry lost by 21 points in Montana, but the Democrat Brian Schweitzer was elected Governor, four of five statewides are now Democrats, and the Dems swept to power in the State Senate... Says the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, "Not since 1987 have Democrats wielded this much power in the state."
So, what is happening in Montana? Is this the beginning of a western Democratic Party?
9:27 a.m.
Nov 7, '04
Not for nothing, Kari, but dude had a mullet. That's gotta be it.
Nov 7, '04
There's no one in Democratic leadership who can talk credibly in moral terms. Hillary voted for the Iraq war, remember.
Barak is really the only one. Someone get a DNA sample so we can start cloning him.
Nov 7, '04
Hi Folks..
Don't look to Montana for a resurgence of D progressive tradition. The Days of Mansfield, Metcalf, Doc Melcher and Pat Williams are gone. The Rs carried significant baggage much of their own making. Outgoing guv Judy Martz came into office following a staggeringly popular pretty boy governor, Marc Roscoe, who took no chances and left town trailing a big state spending deficit and utility deregulation. Unbridled greed did in the Rs. Martz was wildly unpopular, positives below 20%; the Montana Power Company, post dereg, was transformed into a comm company, Touch America, and within four years lost every red cent of shareholder value. The Rs never blinked in the mantra that it was good for the state. The resource exploiters got so brazen that even farmers, ranchers and the grassroots huntin'/fishin'/guns orgs went against them or sat it out.
Brian Schweitzer is a good guy and will probably do good things for Montana. At its core, however, it is still a deeply conservative state whose economy and culture are firmly fixed in a dependence on the federal government and the transfer of financial and intellectual capital from the blues to the reds.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment.
Nov 8, '04
Dear Clintonistas:
What the D party really needs is another Ross Perot. I can't believe how many Dems laud the Clinton yrs. and (conveniently) forget that without Perot in the race in 1992, Clinton would have NEVER been elected. In fact, I am not so sure he would have beaten Dole in 1996, either (it would have been a helluva lot closer, that's for sure). Yes, he had (and still has) charisma but his politics really left a lot to be desired and paved the way for similar "centrist" (make that conservative) Democrats like John Breaux, Zell Miller and our own Darlene Hooley. The last thing the Dem party needs is people who are voting with extremist right-wing Republicans over the half the time!
I blame Clinton for much of the mess we are in today. He had opportunities galore which were squandered. Colin had it right in his post...why would we want to go back to this???
Nov 8, '04
Actually, I think a woman candidate would do fine, as long as she's not a liberal Democrat. That's Hillary's problem, not her gender.
The first successful woman candidate at the Presidential level will be a Republican.
2:54 p.m.
Nov 8, '04
I wouldn't call Darlene Hooley a centrist. She's firmly pro-choice, pro-working person, pro-healthcare and pro- a number of other progressive causes.
<h2>Breaux I can see as a centrist, but Zell Miller's just straight-up off his rocker. Some have identified his aberrant behavior during and post-RNC as a precursor to dementia/Alzheimer's. I'll let his Hardball interview speak for itself in that regard...</h2>