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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (20844)	2/3/2008 12:28:41 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224724

At the same time, they have banked on the hope that most Americans, or at least most Democrats, have forgotten or forgiven what Bill Clinton's chief of staff Leon E. Panetta calls "the dark side" of his presidency, the scandals and partisan battles that consumed so much of the 1990s. And they have pushed back against those, including Obama, who question the legacy. But Panetta, who supports Hillary Clinton and says he believes her husband deserves credit for policy achievements, said confronting the full record of the Clinton years will be unavoidable. "Whether they like it or not, it is going to be part of the debate. Obviously, if Hillary gets the nomination . . . there's no question the Republicans are going to make that part of the debate." Obama has approached the Clinton years somewhat gingerly, using euphemisms about not wanting to return to the battles of the 1990s and suggesting that Ronald Reagan was a more transformative figure than the 42nd president. That plays into the views of many liberals, who have long harbored ambivalent feelings toward Clinton for what they regard as his having squandered a unique historical moment by pandering to the right or indulging his personal appetites. Other Democrats simply suffer from Clinton fatigue. Outside the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Thursday, before the two candidates debated for the last time before Super Tuesday, an Obama supporter with a bullhorn chanted, "No more drama, we want Obama." Inside the hall, the senator from Illinois picked up on the theme, albeit less directly. "I think what is at stake right now is whether we are looking backwards or we are looking forwards," he said. "I think it is the past versus the future." But Obama ducked a chance to elaborate. Asked whether Democrats were right to remember the Clinton era fondly, he said: "There's no doubt that there were good things that happened during those eight years." Clinton's was a presidency often marked by turbulence, full of operatic twists and colorful characters. At times he was viewed as a transformative leader, at other times as a marginalized figure. His stumbles paved the way for Republicans to capture Congress for the first time in 40 years, yet he learned how to "triangulate" to get back on top.