MysteriousFaith

What the Democratic Party is Missing …

Yesterday evening my wife and I went to hear former President Clinton at Butler University. I have a very stormy perspective on President Clinton; like most Americans, I am unhappy with his marital indiscretions and would credit more than his leadership as an explanation for the government’s ability to pay down the federal debt and cut the deficit. For me, Clinton’s infidelity is less important than his leadership ability and general aptitude for articulating and implementing a vision for the country. I also confess to judging a person’s suitability for leadership based on their ability to communicate; hence in no small part my distrust of our current President and my tendency to appreciate President Clinton’s opinions.

The man I saw last evening was a man whose political career ended much too soon; his run for President was the classic underdog story, but it may be that this particular Arkansas “red-neck”, as he euphemistically called himself, ran for President much too early. Clinton now possesses a gravitas beyond his past “X” factor that drew people to him on a purely charismatic level. President Clinton stood before some 10,000 people with minimal notes, and spoke provocatively and personally on topics he had obviously prepared for the audience that evening. His command of the material afforded him a confidence his party is sorely lacking in that it allowed him to project himself beyond simple knowledge to a more complex consolidation of possible solutions to what ills America. This was and probably always will be a part of the Clinton legacy – his belief in any problem having a solution, and a solution he and the government should have a voice in dealing with (the latter point is certainly where many disagree with him as to the role of government).

What I saw in President Clinton is what the American people do not see within the Democratic Party: ideas of their own, not angry dismissals of the Republican agenda. In some ways very much like the Bush Administration, Clinton is a man of ideas. Whether you like Bush or Clinton’s particular ideological stripe, they both stand for a definable plan for the country. Granted, people such as I doubt that the policies President Bush stands for are his own or those dropped into his teleprompter that morning. What I loved about Clinton’s remarks were that they stood in stark contrast to what the Democratic party is doing: if you were a conservative ideologue standing in Hinkle Fieldhouse last evening, you left rubbing your hands in glee over the disconnect that exists between Clinton’s suggested strategy and what the Democrats are actually doing. Where Clinton would have them forsake pointless political attacks in favor of substantive policy submissions, his own party seems unable to suggest something of their own making other than the simple assertion that “we aren’t them” while pointing a finger at the Republicans. Strikingly missing from Clinton’s speech last evening was pointing towards the fall of Tom Delay, the indictment of Scooter Libby, or the potential fall of Presidential advisor Karl Rove. Clinton was certainly not afraid of forcefully arguing that the Bush Administration has made terrible mistakes, as he did when he talked about the Administration’s torture policy. But for those who heard President Clinton yesterday night, what you would have left aware of was his lack of anger, his graciousness, and a measured unwillingness to act towards his attackers the way they acted towards him.

Of all that draws me to President Clinton, some is predicated on my own guilt over the attitude I had towards him when he was President. I remember being in Washington D.C. at a well-known DC tourist spot standing next to a rack of postcards featuring President & now-Senator Hillary Clinton in various stages if disrobe, one particularly noticeable set with them in S&M gear. Once a part of the Republican Party, I know what was in my own heart when I was a part of the merciless attacks on him, his wife, his daughter and their politics. Nothing was off the table; for whatever reason, Clinton brought out the absolute worst in the conservative movement. Some years later, I am still unclear as to what was so threatening about him or his policies. Interestingly enough, I have recently wondered if the harsh and brittle nature of the conservative movement’s response to Clinton was the foundation and predecessor to their similar response to the aftermath of 9/11.

Yesterday evening was refreshing: any talk about politics was reserved for issues, not people or personalities. Wrestling with issues was centered first on fact, then on opinion. Clinton began his speech with the mandate that political dialogue “generate more light than heat.” He lived up to his end of the promise, but I doubt his party understands how to do this, or has the leadership to make it happen. Perhaps unfortunately for only Clinton, but certainly for his party, he ran too early and peaked too soon. Maybe Clinton’s career does end - as Bono suggested in the most recent Rolling Stone - with a third act that is better than the first two; regardless, I think we would all do well to be as at peace with our past and our futures as he is.

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• November 7, 2005

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