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Monday, May 31, 1993 Page:
The Comeback Kid comes through again
Bill Clinton must have nine lives — or moreEvery time the pundits and the
political analysts get ready to toss the last shovelful of dirt on Clinton’s
grave, he suddenly sits up in his coffin.
Clinton’s bid for the White House was pronounced dead on arrival at least
three times during the 1992 presidential campaign. But he kept on running, and
somehow managed to prevail on Election Day.
As late as last Thursday afternoon, the experts were declaring Clinton a
failed president and delivering his political eulogy.
But the Comeback Kid, the never-say-die master of political wizardry,
reached deep into his bag of tricks and pulled out another miracle.
Clinton’s success in getting his budget plan approved by the U.S. House of
Representatives on Thursday night didn’t exactly rescue his presidency from
the troubled waters it has encountered in recent weeks, but the victory
certainly provided some much-needed relief from the relentless gale of
criticism.
Clinton has been berated and ridiculed for everything from his haircut to
his inability to deliver overnight solutions to monumental problems. Last
week, he was overheard saying that he was beginning to feel like a punching
bag. For the most part, though, he has gracefully withstood the constant
carping.
As he proved during his years as governor of Arkansas and again through the
tumultuous months of his ’92 campaign, Clinton is not prone to panic. He
calmly accepts the ups and downs that define a life in politics and tries to
stay focused on the task at hand.
And he needs to stay focused, for the task at hand is enormous.
Clinton was elected on a promise to make big changes in a system that is
utterly unyielding in its resistance to change. To make matters worse, he was
elected in a three-way race with only 43 percent of the vote. It’s difficult
to claim a mandate for change when your base of support is well under 50
percent.
It’s even more difficult when the media and a vast array of political
opponents seem hellbent on sinking your presidency before it ever leaves the
harbor.
Funny thing, but we haven’t heard much lately about the Great Liberal Media
Conspiracy of 1992. To all appearances, those same liberal media that
supposedly joined forces to destroy George Bush and install their liberal hero
Clinton in the White House have suddenly changed sides.
The media now seem determined to destroy Clinton and replace him with —
with whom? Bob Dole? Ross Perot?
There was no liberal media conspiracy, of course. There was plenty of
shallow, sloppy reporting and more than enough half-baked analysis, but there
was not and is not an ideological conspiracy designed to favor any politician
or political party. If there ever was such a conspiracy, Bill Clinton has got
to be wondering where the heck it is when he needs it.
Last week, one of the leading TV pundits devoted an entire program to the
question: Has Bill Clinton gone Hollywood?
This was one of those rare questions that can be sufficiently answered with
another question: Who cares?
All this “news” about haircuts and Hollywood is just nonsense, of course.
Nonsense is a lot easier — and a lot more fun — to talk about and write
about than serious issues. It’s easy to put together a story about the
president having lunch with Sharon Stone or Barbra Streisand — much easier by
far than putting together a meaningful explanation of Clinton’s economic
program.
Clinton seems to understand all this, which is why he doesn’t let it rattle
him. He understands that a president can be a bum one day and a hero the next
— or vice versa.
If you don’t think so, just ask George Bush.
So, we may look back on last week’s budget vote in the House and see that
it was the first step in the rehabilitation of Clinton’s presidency. Or, we
might see that it was Clinton’s last desperate gulp of air before drowning in
the sea of incompetence.
Just don’t jump to conclusions if you look up one day and it looks as
though Clinton is going under for the last time. I figure he’s got at least
five lives left.
Bill Thompson, former associate editor of The Times Leader, is a columnist
for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.