Political Dynamics
July 19th, 2007Bill Clinton proves today that, even after all these years, he’s still got his fingers on America’s pulse.
Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday criticized President George W. Bush’s administration for failing in Iraq, saying their was no evidence of much-needed political or diplomatic progress. “The point is, that there is no military victory here,” he said in an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America. Clinton’s wife Hillary is running for the Democratic nomination for president and she has been calling on Bush to pull troops out of Iraq.
“There is no evidence that, whether we have a good day in a particular community or region in Iraq, that we have either the political reconciliation process within the country working or any diplomatic process that’s got a chance to help with the neighbors,” the former Democratic president said. Washington has been urging Iraq for months to pass important laws aimed at reconciling majority Shi’ites and minority Sunni Arabs. So far only one of the draft laws aimed at drawing Sunnis more firmly into the political process has reached the Iraqi parliament.
Bush, who has been under pressure to change the course of the increasingly unpopular war, has said he is waiting for a September progress report from his U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus. “I believe that Gen. Petraeus is a very able man and I don’t have any doubts that they’ll win some battles,” Clinton said. “I hope this works. I think every American hopes this works. But it can’t work beyond winning a few battles. It has to be accompanied by … progress on the political front.”
It’s absolutely perfect rhetoric from the former President: consistent with his past support of the war, critical of the President without seeming traiterous or gleeful, and he appears credible as a leader. You know, Clinton was the perfect man to lead the Democrats in 1992: he’s white, he’s southern, he isn’t wishy washy or weak. If he were a bit better advised and a bit bolder — as well as a bit smarter, with Paula Jones and all she begat — he’d have been a great President and the Democratic Party would rule for twenty years.
Now, he has to be careful not to overshadow his wife. See, Bill can say things Hillary just can’t get away with, right or wrong, because he is a white southern man and Hillary isn’t. When this campaign truly gets underway and the dogfights begin, the Clinton Dynamic will be one of the most interesting ones in American political history. You thought Al Gore trying to keep Bill Clinton close but oh-so-far away was interesting (or embarrassing — infuriating, perhaps)? You haven’t seen anything.
All said, though, I’m still rooting for Clinton, of the candidates in the field, because Hillary’s smart and she’s got Bill. I’ve got questions, like with any candidate, but I like her enough to be a supporter. I will be watching with a lot of interest, though.
And in other news, although it might be related (I assure you I didn’t decide long ago to run this piece with that piece — they both came out today), “survey shows that men are happiest with educated wives.” Now listen: I know everyone’s fantasy when they’re ten is a woman who makes them sandwiches, changes the cartoons when you ask her to and makes sure you’re warm at night, but anybody who believes that once they’ve gotten older is an idiot. The best woman is the one who can keep you honest, sharp and happy, which don’t sound like the effects of a dumb woman to me, and I could’ve told you that without doing a study!