All of us have burdens, but each of the Presidential candidates has a man who is a special burden to them. That man represents an association which is likely to engender an industry of negative political advertisements. This diary is not intended to suggest that the burdens have comparable positives or negatives but it rather outlines how the candidates are challenged with a burden they didn’t necessarily bargain for.
Hillary Clinton: Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton, a former President, is also Hillary’s greatest asset. No one believes that she would be considered for the White House except that she is his wife. That said, he is also her greatest burden. That he was impeached and disbarred can mostly be discounted for the right-wing over-reaching. But his nickname "Slick Willie" was earned.
During this campaign, we are reminded of his boldfaced half-truths (I won’t rehash them all). We are reminded of his raging, finger-stabbing rhetoric. We have not yet heard much about the Foundation or the business dealings with foreign governments. But if Clinton becomes the nominee, we will.
Barack Obama: Reverend Jeremiah Wright
Reverend Jeremiah Wright has been Barack Obama’s pastor for 20 years. He played an important role in Obama’s life as played out on Sundays, at his wedding and his children’s baptisms. It seems that Wright was an important part of launching Obama’s political career because he introduced him to the right people and gave him credibility at a time and at a level that was extremely helpful.
A few of Wright’s sermons and some of his rhetorical flares are so far outside the mainstream of American politics that his association with Obama might sink his Presidential bid. In a You Tube world, the soundbyte matters. The context is immaterial.
Reverend Wright clearly doesn’t belong in a You Tube world. The soundbytes with the context are sometimes pretty bad. The soundbytes without the context are just plain horrible. I don’t think anyone believes that Obama would say "God damn America" or suggest that AIDS could be a government sponsored program to eliminate blacks or that 9-11 is payback for American terrorism. But his close association with a man who has said these things are harmful.
John McCain: George W. Bush
John McCain and George W. Bush have had a most interesting relationship. In 2000 they were rivals for the Republican Presidential nomination which Bush won following some questionable tactics in the South Carolina primary. There was an unconvincing forgiveness, but to win the nomination, McCain understood that he could not run as the anti-Bush. He needed to embrace his policy, his record, his appointees and (more to the point) his war.
McCain arrived late to the White House meeting to receive Bush’s endorsement, no doubt with a sense of dread. During the obligatory press conference, McCain was asked how much campaigning Bush would do with him. McCain cited the overwhelming demands of the Presidency on Bush and doubted that Bush could do very much to help.
What would Hillary Clinton give if Bill Clinton had a job with overwhelming demands. What would Obama give for such a job for Reverend Wright?
So which is the heaviest burden?
I believe that Bush has been a poor President. I don’t fault him for the silly things he does. I wish he were more curious about just about everything. But when you come down to it, he has led the US into a disadvantaged position in the world that could hurt us for generations.
And it’s not like we stumbled down this path. We paid dearly to get here. We are deeply in debt to the Chinese and are not likely to recover from the debt for generations.
America is unique in the world because of our rights as citizens and our moral standing in the world. All of that has been squandered as well.
In other words he has damaged just about everything that makes America powerful and righteous and prosperous. I am certain that we have never had such a terrible President and I cannot imagine that we could ever have one nearly as disastrous.
For my money, I think Bush is about as heavy a burden as one can have. McCain is trying to distance himself from Bush, but there is really little to distinguish them. McCain claims to want a more humble foreign policy. I think we’ve seen that movie before. He wants to make the tax cuts permanent. He says that we don’t (won’t? shouldn’t) torture. All of that comports to the Bush line of crap. And, of course, he has only opposed the Iraq War tactics, not the strategy.
None of this means that Bill Clinton and Jeremiah Wright are not burdens, but when put into the context of the current administration, the yoke seems easier, and the burden lighter.