On a post-election edition of PBS's "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer," presidential historian Richard Norton Smith told Lehrer: "The Democrats clearly have an opportunity to demonstrate that they're the Bill Clinton party. You know, historically, I think the real winner this week is Bill [RETURN TO ARTICLE]
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Reader Comments
Laura, you are out to lunch on all points. This is the stupidest postelection analysis I’ve read in a progressive publication.
Only 9 of Rahm’s 23 candidates won. Many more Dean candidates
won in many more states and many more are progressive.
22 of the 23 Rahm candidates were pro-war. Three million
bucks couldn’t elect Tammy Duckworth in Rahm’s hometown !
Think of that.
So far Obama has been The Great Black Issue Dodger. He has
no position on the war or most other issues of concern to voters.
The US public is way to the left of him on the war and socialized
medicine and many other issues. Many of his black constituents
haven’t seen him since he was elected two years ago.
Since when are the old establishment farts on Lehrer our experts
on interpreting elections ? Washington just mindlessly recycles
the lowest of the lowgrade establishment nonsense to attempt
to minimize the progressive victory and more importantly the big
conservative defeat. After that appalling column pushing race based
identity politics nothing from Laura Washington’s pen surprises me.
What’s next, ITT ? Tom Sowell or Clarence Thomas ?
“Obama has decided to imitate Bill Clinton, except that he’s going to skip 1994 and jump right to 1995-1996″
Well, sure. After all, he has to work on an accelerated schedule given that he’s just assured himself of being the first African-American one term president.
Stephanie Mcnealy
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