Mrs. Clinton's Sex Appeal
By JAMES TARANTO
January 11, 2008
Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia has the most interesting poll result we've seen in all the years of the 2008 presidential campaign:
Let's not forget the enduring affection New Hampshirites have for their "Comeback Kid" Bill Clinton. He was everywhere, and he issued hard-edged--some say petty--blasts at Obama that received saturation attention in the media. Interestingly, Democratic voters in the exit poll were asked if Bill Clinton were a White House candidate in '08, would they have voted for him or their current candidate. By a margin of 58 percent to 27 percent, Hillary Clinton's voters preferred Bill, while all other Democrats kept most of their own voters. This is not a compliment to Hillary, but it's obvious that without Bill, she would not be in a position to win the party nomination.
Did any pollster think to ask Republican voters in 2000 to choose between their candidate and George Bush père? We're pretty sure not, and that's revealing in itself. Although George W. Bush undoubtedly benefited from his famous political name, it's highly doubtful that Republican voters would have preferred the elder Bush (who, having served only one term, was constitutionally eligible to run). Indeed, although the elder Bush now receives lots of backhanded compliments from those who despise his son (even George McGovern!), many Republicans remember him for tax increases, David Souter and Saddam Hussein's survival.
In Mrs. Clinton's case, the comparison to that feminist icon Lurleen Wallace seems more apposite all the time. But as we look toward November, it's worth pondering the nature of this longing for Bill Clinton.
It seems unlikely that it is, at its root, about policy. Mr. Clinton was not a defining ideological figure, no FDR or Reagan. To the extent that he moved his party, it was toward the center, and the party--including Mrs. Clinton--has in many ways moved back.
There is perhaps an element of nostalgia for the peace and prosperity of the 1990s, notwithstanding that the peace was illusory and the prosperity hasn't gone away.
But above all, Clinton nostalgia is about partisanship. Mr. Clinton endeared himself to his party, and especially its left wing, not via his policies but by provoking the enmity of Republicans--most notably, by being impeached. His final two years in office thus produced a partisan closing of the ranks behind him, to some extent despite his centrist policies. (Ironically, George W. Bush might now enjoy more support than he does among Republicans if the Democratic opposition were better organized.)
It's telling that in Iowa and New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton did much better among Democrats than among independents. This may augur well for her in subsequent primaries and caucuses, many of which are limited to registered Dems. But it may bode ill for November, when the majority of voters will be non-Democrats. Bill Clinton, after all, never quite managed to get a majority of the popular vote, against fairly weak Republican opposition (albeit with Ross Perot available as an alternative).
To be elected, Mrs. Clinton will have to find an appeal broader than her husband's, a tall order given that many of her supporters prefer him. Off the top of our head, the only idea that occurs to us is one she seems to be trying: urging women to vote for her because she'd be the first female president.
There is a risk of taking this too far. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on a bizarre comment Mrs. Clinton made yesterday while campaigning for the Jan. 19 Nevada caucuses:
Clinton and her busload of traveling press moved from there to the popular local Mexican restaurant Lindo Michoacan, where a "roundtable" that was actually square passed a microphone around to tell her people's concerns about the mortgage crisis and foreclosures. She took notes and munched on tortilla chips. . . .
A man shouted through an opening in the wall that his wife was illegal.
"No woman is illegal," Clinton said, to cheers.
No woman is illegal? She really seems bent on alienating male voters, doesn't she?
No Wonder She Won
"New Hampshire Mountaineer Says Hillary Was Inspiration"--headline, Boston Globe, Jan. 10
Hasn't NZ Heard About NH?
"NZ Mourns Hillary's Death"--headline, Reuters, Jan. 11
It's That Thing Mrs. Clinton Is Always Talking About
"Obama Must Explain 'Change,' Journalist Says"--headline, Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press, Jan. 10
Dodd Kicks Self for Not Trying This in Iowa
"Kucinich Seeks NH Dem Vote Recount"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 10
The Audacity of High Apple Pie in the Sky Hope
"Ants, Plants Each Must Hold Up Their End"--headline, Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 10
Talk About Negative Campaigning!
"Sleeping Bear Stirs to Maul Huckabee"--headline, Australian, Jan. 12
Sarcasm Is Such an Effective Way to Argue!
A West Coast newspaper whose name is an anagram for "talentless piglet erection" waxes sarcastic about President Bush's trip to the Middle East:
We're so touched that after seven years of meddling in the affairs of the Middle East (trade sanctions, tough talk, bombing, etc.), President Bush finally decided to forgo another much-deserved vacation in favor of a working visit to the region. . . .
Of course, he's basically limiting his visit to his allies in the region--Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, etc. The visit is said to include a stop in the Palestinian territories, but that won't do much, given that the Palestinian ruling party, Hamas, wasn't even invited to Bush's Annapolis tea party with Israel and the leader of the minority Palestinian Fatah party. What, no time for Iran, Syria and Lebanon? Too bad.
Wow, this is so persuasive! They've really won us over! But seriously, maybe they're on to something about Bush just talking tough and bombing. Check out this Associated Press dispatch from Jerusalem:
President George W. Bush emerged from a tour of Israel's official Holocaust memorial Friday calling it a "sobering reminder" that evil must be resisted and praising victims for not losing their faith. . . .
At one point, Bush viewed aerial photos of the Auschwitz death camp taken during the war by U.S. forces and called [Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice over to discuss why the American government had decided against bombing the site, [Yad Vashem chairman Avner] Shalev said.
"We should have bombed it," Bush said, according to Shalev.
And Auschwitz is in Poland, which is a NATO ally. Bush is such a warmonger; we're appalled.
That '70s Show
A press release from the American Jewish Congress reports that the group tried to buy an ad in Ms. Magazine but was unable to do so. Your first thought may be, Of course they were unable to do so--this is 2008, not 1972. But as improbable as it may seem, Ms. still exists, and the AJC says it refused to accept the ad, which depicts Israel's Supreme Court chief, foreign minister and Knesset speaker, all of whom are female, over the large caption "This is Israel."
According to the AJC statement, the congress was told by someone at Ms. "that publishing the ad 'will set off a firestorm' and that 'there are very strong opinions' on the subject." Ms. readers are delicate flowers, aren't they?
But the Jewish Telegraphic Agency heard a different story:
Ms. magazine's executive editor, Kathy Spillar, disputes [AJC's] version, telling JTA the ad showed political support for one of Israel's parties and thus violated magazine standards.
"We only take mission-driven ads," Spillar said. "Because two of the women in this ad were from the same political party," that showed favoritism, and the magazine's policy is not to get involved in the domestic politics of another country.
We'll leave it to others to sort this out. We're just jealous that in this day and age Ms. can actually afford to turn down ads!
The Gift That Keeps on Giving
He tried to defeat George W. Bush in 2004, and he's still bitter about having failed. Who is he? Before you answer, he doesn't look French or come from Massachusetts, and he never served a day in Vietnam (though he did propagate slanders about what American servicemen did there).
We refer of course to Daniel Irvin Rather Jr., who used obviously phony documents in an effort to suggest that something or other was amiss involving President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. The Associated Press brings us this Rather update:
A judge said Wednesday that he was leaning toward allowing Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit over his being fired by CBS to proceed.
"I concluded there was enough in the complaint (by Rather) to continue with discovery (pretrial research)," state Judicial Hearing Officer Ira Gammerman said at a hearing on CBS' motion to dismiss the case. . . .
Rather, 75, said after attending the hearing in Manhattan's state Supreme Court that he was pleased by the judge's statements.
"Allowing the case to go forward with discovery will put us on the road to finding out what really happened involving big corporations and powerful interests in Washington and their intrusions into newsrooms, which is the reason I'm here," Rather said. "That is the red, beating heart of this case."
It's too bad Rather didn't decide to become a journalist instead of the career path he chose. If he had, he could have saved money on lawyers and investigated this story for himself.
We Blame Global Warming
This is definitely George W. Bush's fault. From Reuters;
Snow fell on Baghdad on Friday for the first time in memory, and delighted residents declared it an omen of peace.
"It is the first time we've seen snow in Baghdad," said 60-year-old Hassan Zahar. "We've seen sleet before, but never snow. I looked at the faces of all the people, they were astonished," he said.
"A few minutes ago, I was covered with snowflakes. In my hair, on my shoulders. I invite all the people to enjoy peace, because the snow means peace," he said.
Hey wait--didn't we already win the Cold War?
Orange You Glad We Have Guantanamo?
From an ACLU press release:
JANUARY 11, 2008, is the six-year anniversary of the first arrival of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.
On January 11, we are calling on everyone opposed to torture and indefinite detention to WEAR ORANGE to symbolize their sadness and disgust with the national shame that is Guantánamo Bay.
We're sorry we didn't get to this until late in the day, but it's not too late to fight back: If you support the detention of terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, please wear colors other than orange today.
Wannabe Pundits
You know the drill:
Like Mitt Romney speaking on social issues, the undulating brew just can't make up its mind.
This is from an article in Wired magazine about a literal undulating brew--essentially a chemistry experiment (there's video too). Even geeks, it seems, yearn to be political pundits.
No Wonder Europe Is So Small
National Geographic helps make sense of the metric system, inserting a helpful conversion into this Associated Press story that appears on its Web site:
A tiger lurked in the tall grass at a park in India as gamekeepers tried to shoot it with a dart gun and missed. The animal suddenly sprang from the grass, sailed through the air and took a swipe at a man sitting on an elephant's back.
The man lost three fingers.
"I could never imagine that a tiger could so effortlessly leap from the ground on to an adult elephant's head, which is at least 12 feet (nearly 4 kilometers) above the ground," Vivek Menon, executive director of Wildlife Trust of India, said of the 2004 attack, a video of which has been circulating on YouTube.
We've long been confused by the metric system, but this helps clear things up. Metric people use the kilometer as a measure of distance, so we always assumed it was sort of a "mile-lite"--lesser than a mile, but in the same league at least. As it turns out, it's actually a unit of length equal to slightly over three feet.
This certainly puts things in perspective. According to Google Maps, it is a 545-kilometer drive from Berlin to Frankfurt. That is the equivalent of just over 1,635 feet, or about one-third of a mile. Yet it takes five hours to drive this distance. We knew those dinky cars they drive in Europe were slow, but we had no clue how slow. No wonder the autobahn doesn't need speed limits.
Good for Reuters
From a Reuters.com blog:
Several readers objected to the "whistle-blower" headline [about Philip Agee], making a fair point. We subsequently change the headline to:
Ex-CIA spy who exposed agents dies in Cuba
We noted this yesterday and appreciate Reuters' acknowledgment of error.
Assuming He Lives That Long
"Jesse Helms will be spinning in his grave if Jim Neal beats Sen. Elizabeth Dole for the US Senate seat Helms held for five terms in North Carolina."--New York Post, Jan. 11
There Are 435 to Choose From
"House Appropriator Wants Flake on Spending Panel"--headline, Hill, Jan. 10
Isn't That Illegal?
"Pelosi: President Must Join Congress to Address Skyrocketing Energy Prices"--headline, Speaker.gov, Jan. 9
'We, the Undersigned, Implore You to Remember the Alamo'
"Panel OKs Alamo Recall Petitions"--headline, Kalamazoo (Mich.) Gazette, Jan. 11
Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match
• "Cross-Dressing Groom Turns Up at His Own Wedding in a Bride's Dress and Tells Guests 'I'm a Transvestite' "--headline, Daily Mail (London), Jan. 10
• " 'Teenage Boy' in Norway Was Adult Woman on the Run"--headline, Reuters, Jan. 10
Breaking News From Genesis 6:19-20
"Remember Pets When Flooding Occurs"--headline, Times (Munster, Ind.), Jan. 11
Breaking News From 2001
"New U.S. President Won't Fulfill All Europe's Desires"--headline, New York Times (Paris edition), Jan. 10
News You Can Use
• "Peace in Mideast Can Be Seen by Telescope"--headline, Honolulu Star Bulletin, Jan. 11
• "Too Much Sugar-Free Gum Linked to Severe Weight Loss"--headline, HealthDay.com, Jan. 11
Bottom Stories of the Day
• "Glasgow Man Pleads Guilty to Disorderly Conduct"--headline, WBKO-TV Web site (Bowling Green, Ky.), Jan. 10
• "Asteroid Unlikely to Collide With Mars"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 10
• "Reviewers Find Intolerant Language in Saudi Academy Books"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 10
How Einstein Died
The headline, trumpeted by Drudge, is a dog-bites-man story if ever there was one: "Albright: Bush 'One of the Worst Presidencies' in History." A trite thought from an unsurprising source. But the report, on the Web site of the Business and Media Institute, includes a strange theory offered by Bill Clinton's secretary of state:
Albright's message centered on the need for equality--not just domestically, but also on a global scale.
"If we were all rich, that would be very nice," Albright said. "If we were all poor, it would be too bad, but we would be the same. What the problem is now is the poor know what the rich have as a result of information technology and the spread, generally, of knowledge. And, it creates a whole new host of problems in terms of disquiet and anger."
The problem isn't inequality per se--it's knowledge. Of course, this is the same Madeleine Albright who in 1996 was asked by Lesley Stahl about (probably false) claims that half a million Iraqi children had died as a result of Saddam Hussein-era international sanctions. She did not dispute the premise, but told Stahl: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it."
We had to kill them. They knew too much.
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Adam Phillips, James Moser, Michael Segal, Dan O'Shea, John Nernoff, Edward Schulze, Tim Willis, Rod Pennington, Dawson Bell, Ray Hendel, Mordecai Bobrowsky, Gabriel Scherzer, Monty Krieger, Greg de Mocskonyi, Israel Pickholtz, Rosanne Klass, Michael Zukerman, Ethel Fenig, Joel Goldberg, Steve Klein, Lewis Sckolnick, John Sanders, Don Hubschman, David Weiss, Cal Smith, Dave Loeffel, Peter DeNitto, Brenda Becker, Jerry Skurnik, Cary McQuitty, Andy Hefty, Mike Stevens, Stewart Seman, Peter D'Souza, Don Stewart, Bill King, John Williamson, John Kuszewski, Chris Scibelli, Joseph Abdy and David Beebe. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.) |
