Has there been a stranger sight, this political year, than Barack Obama coming out to hold a press conference with Bill Clinton? Yes, possibly: Obama leaving the lectern to attend a holiday party while the former president held forth for another half-hour.
It reminded me of the time Frank Sinatra, having dissed Elvis Presley and rock ‘n’ roll in general years before, had the King on his TV show — they even performed a duet together! By then rock had conquered the airwaves (and the post-GI Elvis had lost his mojo anyway) but to see the former rivals link arms was still striking.
This of course comes in the wake of pundits wondering if Obama was having his signature moment now with his great tax compromise, that (like Clinton after his midterm losses) he was finding his voice and his passion in the middle. Passion may not be the word you associate with Obama — he’s more Nat King Cole than Sinatra — but I think those who think his moderating trend is a sell-out weren’t paying attention during the election.
Obama did not win because he was a liberal, or a progressive. He won because a lot of independents and even Republicans were dispirited after eight years of Bush ineptitude, and many were truly appalled by McCain’s choice of running mate (forget the other nutsy trappings of his campaign) A lot of people thought they were voting for a moderate, and a lot of people were right.
For those Democrats who think back on the Clinton years fondly (minor military skirmishes, economic prosperity), remember how the left hated him them? To say nothing of the GOP (and the press!), especially the right wing of the right wing. After running an interview with Clinton in a recent issue of Reader’s Digest, my wife got an email from a reader reminding her of the 50-plus murders BC was implicated in. (Turns out Vince Foster was just the tip of the iceberg.)
Those people are still out there, hating on Obama now. In fact they’re driving the GOP bandwagon, dressing like Nazis and making John Birch books bestsellers. When I heard that they had discovered an arsenic-based life form in Mono Lake I thought, of course! It’s called the Tea Party. Let’s see if the GOP can swallow them without poisoning itself.