While I anticipated that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would select a running mate more admired by the progressive wing of the party, I have no grievance with her selection of Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her partner. Yes, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth in some quarters because Caine is viewed as […]
Bill Clinton
Posted inPolitical Animal
How Trump’s Lies Do Their Work
His accusations of Clinton money laundering can affect the campaign.
Posted inBooks, June/July/August 2016, Magazine
What’s the Matter with the Left?
Thomas Frank’s factually un-rigorous assault on the Clinton and Obama administrations.
Posted inPolitical Animal, Politics
The Clintons Have Been Here Before
Joe Klein is correct. It’s easy to forget how steep of a climb Bill Clinton had to make to first win the Democratic nomination and then to win the presidency. He had larger problems than an email server: he had recently been found out as a Vietnam draft dodger and a womanizer. People called him […]
Posted inPolitics
Lessons from Bill Clinton for the Post-Trump GOP
For GOP moderates and would-be Republican Party reformers, the 2016 presidential election is now a disaster beyond repair. Despite growing talk of a “brokered” convention, the party’s two most likely nominees are still Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz – one a trainwreck of a reality TV star and the other a favorite son of […]
Posted inJune/July/August 2014, Magazine, Politics
Working the GOP’s Weak Spot
How Barack Obama is following Bill Clinton’s minimum wage game plan to try to hold onto the Senate.
Posted inEconomy, January/February 2014, Magazine
How the West Was Reinvented
Nudged by Bill Clinton, an economy based more on recreation than extraction is transforming the rural West.
Posted inJanuary/February 2014, Magazine, Politics
Clintonism, Populism, and Hillary’s Next Move
During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama famously compared his potential presidency to that of Ronald Reagan, saying that the Gipper had “changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not.” Reporters at the time saw this as a none-too-subtle jab at his […]
Posted inMagazine, Politics, September/October 2012
The Clintonites’ Beef With Obama
It’s not his policies they complain about but his messaging. Is that fair?
Posted inMagazine, March/April 2012, Politics
Clinton’s Third Term
The cover story in this issue, by yours truly, argues that Barack Obama has accomplished so much in his first term (health care reform, the stimulus, turning around Detroit—the list is long, and starts here) that he stands to go down in history as a great or near-great president. But it also notes that most […]
