Was The Clinton Legacy A Positive One

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I just finished reading a thread where Clinton got trashed and it frosted me...Under Clinton we had peace, prosperity, and were admired and respected throughout the world...

[jeff30997]

1. That thread says it all about the Clinton Legacy:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1988821#1988845

[demnan]

2. I love Bill Clinton

you won't find a bad word from me on him.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. I Wish He Had Exhibited Better Judgment With Monica Lewinsky

The moral lapse was forgivable and ...As I used to tell my Southern Baptist minister "none of us are perfect till we get to heaven"...


The lapse in judgment is harder to forgive... He gave the yahoos who were trying to bring him down a sword....

[Druu]

20. Clinton's bad judgement was minor compared to Bush's

I agree that Clinton should have used better judgement when it came to his personal life. The Monica fling was definitely a bad move.

But Clinton's bad calls were personal ones. Bush's bad decisions affect us all. Doesn't it make you sick that (supposedly) almost 50% of the American public still back Bush after all of his lies, embarrassments and bad policy moves? Clinton was impeached over a cigar and a blue dress, yet Bush is supported even after trashing our rights, sending us into war for no good reason, and even managing to piss off all of our allies.

[spooky3]

21. welcome to DU, Druu!

[spooky3]

10. I think he did a great job also. Not perfect, but great.

He used the veto at the right times, to do the right things. He kept us on good terms with most of our friends and allies around the world, but intervened in difficult situations when necessary. No mean feats, those.

[Name removed]

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[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. I Don't Understand The Criticism...

He had a Puke Congress to deal with for most of his term and a corp of enemies bent on destroying him....

[Ruffhowse]

4. I think some people are just pissed off about missed opportunities

Some feel he could have done more. Not myself, though, I think he was thwarted by the constant right wing flak attack.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. He's A President Not A King...

Some folks don't understand how a bill becomes a law and how an idea becomes a bill....

[VOX]

12. I agree. He was under siege from day one in office...

The fact that he did so well despite the Gingrich-led coup is a testament to the Big Dog's gifts.

[Ganja Ninja]

5. Bill Clinton is the only reason this country is still standing ...

despite four years of the worst president ever. Where would we be today if Bill Clinton had handed the country over to George the 2nd, in the same shape it was when George the 1st handed it to him?

[meatloaf]

8. I'm completely torn on brother Bill.

He's brilliant but demonstrated severe laspes in judgement.

With the Republicans on a blood hunt he should have known better than to give them any ammo and yet he still indulged himself with Monica.

He had a terrible habit of trying to please everybody which as we all know winds up pleasing almost nobody. This got spun by the right into him always making decisions based on polls.

I'm not happy with his caving on welfare. In general he displayed the sadly typical Democratic response of the last two decades to give too much ground to conservatives. Here's hoping Kerry/Edwards aren't as accomodating. The letter from Cahill yesterday gives me tons of hope.

Finally, all the negativity that got associated with Clinton, of which he admittedly only bore a limited responsibility, poisoned the well for Gore and opened the door for * to get selected by the USSC. That in and of itself is almost unforgivable.

[spooky3]

9. Many people feel they lost their good jobs due to NAFTA.

[WyLoochka]

11. Unfortunately he didn't do

anything that had staying power like FDR and even LBJ managed to accomplish. Yes, we had peace and prosperity and were welcomed throughout the world, but it was all way too easy to dismantle.

He let the surpluses rack up but never pushed hard enough to get sane fiscal operation and preparation for the future enshrined into law while he had the people with him, overwhelmingly, on that issue.

His Supreme Court picks were, strategically, a lost opportunity also. Scalia and Thomas will be there long after Breyer and Ginsburg are "pushing up daisies."

Clinton left some pleasant memories, but not much of a legacy.

[Freddie Stubbs]

13. He signed theFamily and Medical Leave Act

during his first year in office.

[Carolinian]

14. Clinton will deter those considering voting across party lines.

Sorry, but that's the truth. If the democrats want to win this election, they/we will give modest attention to the Clintons.

By the way, I am a fan of both Clintons.

[sandnsea]

15. 70/30

I wish he hadn't allowed business to be deregulated so much, but overall I think he's left more positive than negative. Most importantly, there's no denying Democrats are better at creating the kind of government that leads to a growing economy. If we can put the nail in the coffin of supply side by pointing to the Clinton economy, that'll have as lasting an effect on this country as social security or civil rights or any other legacy of other presidents.

[no name no slogan]

16. It was okay for the US, but a DISASTER for the Democratic Party

The loss of BOTH houses of Congress under Clinton is UNFORGIVABLE, especially considering Dems had controlled the House for 40 years.

His leadership of the party was disastrous. The party effectively abandoned populist economics for the Greenspan/Rubin Wall Street variety, just to attract more corporate backers to the fold. Don't believe me? Read Jim Hightower's book "There Ain't Nothing In The Middle of the Road....", especially the chapter on the 1992 Dem convention. It was rife with "corporate sponsorships" and corporate "hospitality" suites, something that was almost unknown back when the party catered to working people and unions.

The economy did well, true, but the gap between the rich and poor exploded. The poor didn't really receive any of the benefits of "Clintonomics" until 1999, and then that was quickly undone by the recession and the bursting of the speculative stock market bubble in 2000.

Clinton sold out Main Street for Wall Street. He sold out the little guy for the corporate guy. He muddied the party's message of economic fairness for the support of the corporatocracy. He MUST be held accountable for that.

[calico1]

17. Clinton was a great President

And I think history will judge him kindly and future generations will wonder what the hell the fuss was all about with Lewinsky. Yes, it was poor judgement and I wish he hadn't done it, or at least been more discreet. But his affair didn't kill anyone and the country prospered. Shrub on the other hand? I think when history and future generations are done judging him, Chester A. Arthur will no longer hold the bottom spot.

[Lexingtonian]

18. He did incredibly well

He led the minority party- the conservative Democrats in Congress were a worthless and disgusting lot, never helped him, and then handed their seats to Republicans- and he still won most of the battles. It was a pretty awesome achievement.

The Lewinsky business happened because he discovered how beatable the Republicans really were- really cowards and thieves. I'm a little surprised he didn't pay back Newt by letting his affair with Calista out of the bag.

Yes, he had to give up a lot. But our dear fellow citizens weren't prepared or competent to do any better, sadly enough. Knocking off Milosevic, the honest economics and unleished growth, the beating back of the economic vampires that Bush made his buddies...hey, I could live with that. I can only imagine how badly he'd kick ass were he running this year.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

24. Anybody In Their Right Mind Would Want To Go Back To Those Days

NT

[Lefty Pragmatist]

22. Hell yes he has a positive legacy.

Clinton made three mistakes:

+ The first one was pissing away his honeymoon with one very low priority initiative (gays in the military) and one pie in the sky initiative (universal health care). Dumb political mistakes for a smart guy.

+ The second one is pretty obvious.

+ The third one was allowing Newt to frame the national debate and steal Congress from us in '94. Clinton had the nation's ear and could have stepped forward with a cogent revitalization of liberalism. But he was not politically principled enough to do that. Pragmatism is one thing -- what Clinton was was a sheer operational political animal. By doing the right thing with mod/Greenspan anti-inflation economics, he bought himself enough breathing room to really help us recover from the irresponsibility of Reagan but also re-up our liberal commitments. He accomplished the former (in large part because Bush Sr. turned his back on the neocons and broke his tax pledge). He didn't do much at all on the latter.

But having said all this, he had the most successful presidency since Johnson in terms of moving the nation forward. And as has been noted, his errors aren't even remotely close to Johnson's or Dubya's.

I give him an A minus.

[TNMOM]

23. Yes, but it will take years...

for people to finally recognize it.