(In)Correct Politics
September 26th, 2006Slate magazine continues to be a source for third way thought, always finding different angles on stories and getting deeper into the river. This week, they’re swimming in Clinton, and looking at his strategic blowup on Fox.
Democrats should rejoice that Wallace was as tough as he was. If he had been supine, fearful of another 3,000-word report from Media Matters, the party and Clinton would have been denied an opportunity. And Clinton would have been disappointed, at least judging from his spokesperson’s remarks afterward: “We’re fully aware of Fox News’ and Chris Wallace’s agenda, and President Clinton came in prepared to respond to any attack on his record. When Wallace questioned his record on terrorism, he responded forcefully, as any Democrat would or should.” In other words, he went in loaded for bear and blasted like Cheney as soon as he spotted one.
Did Clinton come across a little unhinged? Sure, but that’s an advantage in a midterm election where party passion matters. Liberal activists want to see their Washington representatives fight back the way Clinton did. This was a rallying cry and a signal to other members of the party to do the same. Clinton can go to individual districts to campaign for competitive candidates, or he can sell the same message wholesale by banging the table in a single performance on Fox.
Clinton didn’t just get the blood pumping among liberal activists. He made a policy critique aimed at the GOP election strategy designed to promote Republicans as the only party competent enough to handle terrorist threats. Each day people are discussing Clinton’s performance or Wallace’s questioning they will also be discussing which president did more to try to kill Bin Laden. Articles will revisit Bush’s Aug. 6, 2001*, Presidential Daily Brief in which he was told al-Qaida was planning a major attack and to hijack planes, and producers will reinterview Richard Clarke, who says Bush dropped the ball. (Clarke’s book, which is highly critical of the Bush team’s pre-9/11 terror efforts, is in the top 10 on Amazon.)
It’s a brilliant, tactful political move, but what else can one expect from Bill Clinton?
In other political news, George Allen has been accused of referring to black people as “niggers” when he played College football, and he denies it, while others say they were with him, like when he did such things as put a deerhead into a black family’s mailbox. Is anyone surprised by this news, considering Allen’s violent history and his relationship with the CCC, today’s KKK? George Allen is a scumbag, and no, he is not going to be President someday, as some believe.
September 27th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Clinton’s been a little too sensitive since the ABC ‘Path To 9/11′ came out. He certainly shouldn’t shoulder the blame for Osama’s not having been dealt with prior to the 9/11 attacks. At the time, nobody was aware that he could really pull off all of the threats he was making against America. He should be allowed to defend his record.
On the other hand, blaming FOX for being asked that question (when the topic is such an obvious one at this point), and personally attacking Chris Wallace was bad form indeed. Frankly, if Clinton were interviewed on any other network and they didn’t inquire about his record on terrorism, I’d be disappointed. It’s a news item and reporters ask about the news.
Clinton’s a media expert, he knew that this was a question that was going to be asked.
As for Allen, this hand-wringing over whether or not he used derogatory racial slurs when he was younger is ridiculous. It seems to echo, slightly, the swiftboat allegations against John Kerry. For get Kerry, hell, I haven’t read many articles about the esteemed senator Robert Byrd and his history with the KKK recently.
But, then again, that IS West Virginia.
Perhaps you should make a post dedicated to the ‘violent history’ and his relationship with the CCC for me so that I can get more detailed when I argue with you on this one
September 27th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
Byrd is an admitted “ex-racist.” Allen is a Republican pretending that he isn’t and never was despite all this evidence to the contrary. Totally different scenarios, and the same goes for Senator Kerry.