President Clinton and Mr. Hyde
KRISTOL, WILLIAM
EDITORIAL President Clinton and Mr. Hyde Has Bill Clinton lost his touch? In the old days, when he didn’t want to take a clear position, he was the master of the straddle. Two days after...
...Her claim is that she was and is Mrs...
...Her seven years in the Senate...
...William Kristol...
...Campaigning for his wife in Iowa last week, he told voters that he “opposed Iraq from the beginning...
...This time around, in 2008, the Democrats—even if they have the wit to avoid nominating Hillary Clinton—are presenting another superfi cially alluring message: that we can avoid tough choices both abroad and at home...
...And today, we say, Republicans should honor the legacy of Henry Hyde...
...When Bill was running for president in New Hampshire in 1992, voters were told they would get “two for the price of one...
...Does any of this matter...
...And yet he survived...
...The Monica scandal gave Hillary a fantastic political gift: a kind of separation from Bill Clinton while she still remained Hillary Rodham . . . Clinton...
...As former Democratic senator Bob Kerrey commented in 1996, “Clinton’s an unusually good liar...
...In February 1999, in the face of an overwhelming consensus that President Clinton would emerge the political victor from his impeachment showdown with the Republican Congress, this magazine editorialized that “Republicans should be proud to stand with Henry Hyde against Bill Clinton...
...Strengthening, not emasculating, the concept of equal justice under law...
...Her claim is the “experience” she acquired as fi rst lady...
...And it’s not as if Hillary can distance herself from Bill—or from those years...
...In 1999, we noted, in light of the unpopularity of impeachment, one of Hyde’s statements: “There are issues of transcendent importance that you have to be willing to lose your offi ce over...
...And, one might add, opposing Iraq from the beginning was hardly on-message for the Hillary campaign...
...Yes...
...Al Qaeda, entitlements, Iranian nukes—according to Democrats, none of these requires doing anything diffi cult or challenging...
...I would think of several that I am willing to lose my offi ce over...
...In January 1998, as president, Clinton tested that proposition...
...This remains a good description of what Republicans should stand for: defending the country, the Constitution, and moral principle...
...If it was so clear that one should have opposed the war from the beginning, why did Hillary vote in October 2002 to authorize the use of force...
...Her years of law practice...
...National defense is another...
...Hillary’s narrative depends on her having been deceived by Bush into supporting the war...
...But now voters are reminded by Bill’s presence on the campaign trail that the Clintons come as a pair...
...His best days of debauchery and obfuscation behind him, Clinton now seems to think he can get away with just making things up...
...What is, after all, Hillary Clinton’s claim to the presidency...
...Last week also brought news of the death of former Illinois congressman Henry Hyde, who managed the impeachment of Bill Clinton...
...He assured the American people, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms...
...Unusually good...
...Really...
...Bill’s vainglorious claim that he—and presumably other intelligent observers —were always against the war doesn’t help Hillary...
...But I agree with the arguments the minority made...
...Now voters have been reminded that they still get two for the price of one...
...Abortion is one...
...Lewinsky”—apparently having in mind his own (rather restrictive) defi nition of sexual relations...
...A little over a year later, he told Time, “That’s why I supported the Iraq thing...
...On May 18, 2003, during a commencement speech at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, Clinton said, “I supported the president when he asked for authority to stand up against weapons of mass destruction in Iraq...
...The example of Henry Hyde—honored by George W. Bush with a Medal of Freedom shortly before his death— should remind Republicans that to govern is to choose, not to straddle...
...Two days after Congress authorized the fi rst Gulf War, in January 1991, he remarked, “I guess I would have voted for the majority if it was a close vote...
...We also noted in 1999 that Republicans needed to come to grips with “their inability to fi gure out how to oppose a superfi cially alluring Clintonism...
...Now, he says he “opposed Iraq from the beginning...
...Last week was a good week for Barack Obama...
...It brings the tawdriness of the Clinton years rushing back...
Vol. 13 • December 2007 • No. 13
