Reply #9: I was a Democrat from the Jesse Jackson wing of the party at the time [View All]

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The DLC changed the rules to shorten the primary process to, in effect, wrap things up by Super Tuesday. I strongly opposed the move, loathing the DLC's influence. Years later, I was so desperate to unseat Bush that I abandoned my strict idealism and was immediately attracted to Clinton and his way of getting down and dirty, like his republican rivals. I threw off objections to his conservative positions and instincts in favor of his pragmatic approach to winning the White House.

It worked. And, you know . . . the Big Dog actually grew in the job, like a good man should. He exercised every liberal instinct available to him, every idealistic initiative was embraced with compassion and understanding. He didn't govern like a man from a conservative state. He operated from the center, but he surrounded himself with some classic, competent liberals who he listened to and respected.

But there were those times that he seemed to be someone else, someone who I could never support, like when he expanded wiretapping, his enthusiasm for 'free trade', his cooperation in finishing the dismantling of welfare 'as we knew it' that he had begun as the head of the Governors Association, his ties to Tyson, his 'friendship with conservatives like Dick Morris . . .

But, I remain as proud of his presidency as I've ever been about any politician. I remain forever grateful for his service, and the caring and compassionate way that he held us all in those big soft hands of his. I suppose I'll always set Bill aside when we find him in the path of our pursuit of the conservative cabal. I owe him that much. History will tell, anyway.

Thanks for the chat. :hi: