Hillary’s Bridge to the Past
At the 1996 Republican national convention, Bob Dole offered himself up as a bridge to the past. He invoked a simpler time when gas was cheap and we all liked Ike in the White House. Dole mistakenly believed that American voters would welcome a return to those good old days.
Democrat Bill Clinton mocked Dole’s maudlin rhetoric by announcing that he would build a bridge to the future in his second term. Americans chose the future over the past in 1996.
In 2007, Hillary has followed the Bob Dole playbook. She has mistakenly assumed that America wants a return to the Bill Clinton years. That casts Barack Obama as a bridge to the future.
Every four years, presidential candidates repeat the same old mistakes. They believe that they can chat up their extensive experience, pick up a few key endorsements and play it safe in pubic settings. The strategy never works. You don’t win the presidency by default. You win by capturing the voters’ imagination.
Ms. Clinton’s smartest move at this point would be to send Bill away on an extended vacation. She’s campaigning in his shadow. Bill was a big hit 15 years ago. Those days are over. Hillary needs to tell us where she intends to take the country.
Hillary will probably continue to play it safe. She’s not the flamboyant type. It could cost her the nomination though. Americans don’t normally follow timid leaders. We can only hope that our next intrepid commander in chief will also possess a bit of wisdom.
Hillary, Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, presidential election, Bob Dole, Barack Obama, Democrats
December 13th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Good observation, Bob. I hadn’t really thought about it in those terms, but you’re absolutely correct. Probably why Obama seems to have pulled ahead.
January 5th, 2008 at 12:24 am
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January 10th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Bob,
I guess you and I have to agree to disagree. I welcome the idea of return of the Clintons to the White House. Just the single achievement of deflating the national debt and projecting a surplus is enough for me to say, “Go Hillary!”
And I would never second guess the security decision of bringing a high profile politician, let alone the wife of a former president, into a venue via a safer, well controlled entrance. Can you image the target she is? That’s a precaution, not an indication she is “full of herself.”
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:33 am
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