1993 Clinton Advisor: Bill used "same techniques Reagan used."
Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 07:31:22 PM PDT
I'm sick of having a country that's 50.1% versus 49.9%. I'm even sicker of politicians that are happy with that as long as they are, for now, the ones .2% ahead. It's sure to reverse itself, and that's no way to make real change.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
First, let's meet David Gergen, political mercenary. David Gergen was a strategist on George H. W. Bush's 1980 campaign and an advisor to Ronald Reagan.
Now let's meet Bill Clinton. Back in 1993, the unexperienced guy from Hope wasn't the bitter man we see today. The guy with the great speaking skills, a vision for the future, and a few skeletons in his closet was still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed enough. He hadn't signed NAFTA yet. He hadn't "reformed" welfare. He hadn't bombed Iraq and one of Africa's largest pharmaceutical factories because of "suspected WMDs." He wasn't the Rhodes scholar who seemingly can't understand a simple argument about what kind of presidencies realign America.
Yes, indeed, back in 1992, Bill Clinton knew how to win an election based on optimism and make it matter once in office. Where'd he learn that from?
Okay, here we go, back to May 1993:
New York Times:
Back in March (1993), when Bill Clinton seemed to be riding more or less high, David R. Gergen, the master salesman, sat on the sidelines and marveled at the cleverness of the new President's marketing plan.
"It is clear now, in contrast to how Clinton presented himself during the campaign, that the Democrats' true agenda is to reverse the direction set by Ronald Reagan," said Mr. Gergen, who was the White House communications director in Mr. Reagan's first term. "And the irony is that they are attempting to do this by using the same techniques Reagan used."
In that interview the man who was a senior adviser to three Republican Presidents said of the Clinton political operators: "They understand what Reagan understood. They have grasped the essential point that a Presidency attempting change is a campaign, and you have to work it like a campaign."
Ooh! Comparing Clinton's techniques and method of change campaigning to Reagan. Basically saying he ripped Ronnie off and sucked at it to boot. Surely "Big Dog" got purple in the face and roughed up a few journalists, right? No:
Now, proving anew that the abiding faith of this city is neither Republicanism nor Democratism, but Inside-ism, the 51-year-old Mr. Gergen has signed on as counselor to President Clinton, a role in which Mr. Gergen will shape the Administration's effort to reverse the very policies that he once sold for President Reagan.
So either way Clinton supporters want to spin it, they lose. The Clintons used Reagan techniques to campaign and to position themselves while in office. So says a man eminently familiar with both presidents from a marketing standpoint. But he also showed that -- albeit for a limited time in Clinton's case -- you can use Reagan's methodology to reverse Reagan's legacy.
However,
This is all ridiculous. Reagan won two elections, one by a absolute 49-state landslide. There's no question Reagan tapped into something, some widespread feeling of discontent and yet also hope for a better tomorrow, as Obama said. And there's no question that the Reagan Republicans have won the battle over ideas and presentation over the last, uh, 30+ years. Basically since Nixon.
They beat Democrats so bad that even Democrats began to pass Reaganesque laws and speak in Reaganesque talking point. The evidence for that Republican win is in the New York Times, too. It's in virtually every political section from the years 1993-2001.
It's time to turn the Reagan myth on it's head, it's time to use Reagan's methods to win and govern with a vast majority of Americans for the Democratic agenda for the next three decades. It's time to get a Democratic Reagan in the White House and not just the DLC Reagan Democrats we keep settling for. It's time to win BIG.
The Clintons knew how to do that once.
Now they only know how to win over 50.1% and think that's just fine. It's not.
UPDATE: I suppose I should point out that I meant "50.1%" symbolically, as in: just BARELY getting the win. As if this is a sport or something and eeking out a victory is just as good as a blowout in the record books. It's not.
UPDATE II: And of course:
Hillary and I will always remember president Ronald Reagan for the way he personified the indomitable optimism of the American people, and for keeping America at the forefront of the fight for freedom for people everywhere.
THAT'S how to look presidential, Mr. and Mrs. Clinton...
Permalink | 44 comments