The Democrats: Four Sides of Bill Clinton

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By Tony Palmeri

For better or worse, Bill Clinton changed the course of the Democratic Party more than any single individual since Franklin Roosevelt. For many years after FDR, almost all Democratic candidates for any office would reflect a part of his style. Democratic campaigns would feature candidates with the little guy appeal (e.g. Harry Truman), the intellectual (e.g. Adlai Stevenson), the charismatic (e.g. JFK), or the shrewd politician (e.g. LBJ). Think about any major Democratic politician from 1945-1975 and you’ll recognize some of these four sides of FDR in all of them.

The Corporate Democrat

The Policy Wonk

The Sum of all Peers

The Charmer

The Unreformed Reformer

Jim Doyle

kathleen Falk

Tom Barrett

Gary George


If we look closely at the 4 Democrats running for governor, we can see four sides of Bill Clinton:

*Jim Doyle, The Corporate Democrat: More than any Democrat in history, Bill Clinton was enamored of big business. His “Third Way” rants culled from the corporatist Democratic Leadership Council attempted to position the Democratic Party in the “center,” which usually meant not offending Wall St. barons. Doyle is demonstrating that a corporate Democrat can raise lots of campaign cash, but recent corporate scandals might turn the pro big business image into a liability.

*Kathleen Falk, The Policy Wonk: Clinton was able to grasp the intricate details of public policy in ways that elude most politicians. Even the vast army of Clinton haters had to admit that he was a smart guy. Kathleen Falk, the only candidate at this point to release substantive policy proposals, definitely has the Clintonian wonkish side. The problem with wonks is that they have difficulty connecting with the average voter. Clinton played down his wonkishness and reached the average voter with his “Man From Hope” appeal. Can Falk succeed equally with her Homegrown Badger and Single Mom themes?

*Tom Barrett, The Charmer: Talk to anyone who has met Bill Clinton and they’ll tell you that it’s almost impossible not to like the guy. Ditto for Tom Barrett. Like Clinton, Barrett has the ability to make each member of an audience feel like he is talking directly to them. I watched him interact with a group of mostly Republican-leaning elected officials in Oshkosh, and by the time he was done everyone in the room felt like they had made a new friend. Charm goes a long way in politics, but may be less important in a year when the voter mood is favorable toward a more hard-edged straight talk.

*Gary George, The Unreformed Reformer: Bill Clinton always attempted to paint himself as a political maverick fighting for reform, but was never quite credible in that role. Republicans exaggerated the foibles of "Slick Willy," but let's face it: this guy was never a choirboy personally or politically. Surrounding himself with people like Dick Morris surely didn't help. Gary George talks about the need to shake up our corrupt political system more eloquently than any other candidate in the race, but it's hard to be taken seriously as a reformer when a dead man turns up on your nomination papers and scores of others claim never to have signed them. Employing infamous political hit man Todd Rongstad wasn't exactly a Fightin' Bob LaFollette move either.

During the Clinton era the Democrats managed to lose control of both houses of the US Congress, the majority of governorships, and even the majority of state legislatures. The party hacks will tell you that times have changed, and that the public no longer has a taste for FDR styled Democrats. Tell that to Robert Reich, Clinton’s former labor secretary and now candidate for governor in Massachusetts whose poll numbers have skyrocketed since he abandoned the Clinton-esque corporate toadying that has become such a staple of Democratic candidates nationwide. Or tell it to Iowa’s Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack, who won an upset victory in 1998 running on a platform loyal to traditional Democratic values.

A telling moment in the Wisconsin race for governor occurred when maverick Democrat Marty Reynolds announced in June that he was leaving the legislature because of scandal, corruption, and big money politics. Reynolds voted against Tommy Thompson’s welfare reform because at the time he said it was a deviation from the principles of Franklin D. Roosevelt. So did any of the Democrats call Reynolds and urge him to run for Lieutenant Governor? No, but Libertarian Ed Thompson did.

Reynolds is a plumbing contractor, bed and breakfast owner, and small town mayor. The fact that someone like that is running on a third party ticket ought to be a wake-up call to the post-Clinton Democrats.

Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback

Tony Palmeri is chair of the UW Oshkosh Department of Communication and co-host of “Commentary,” an Oshkosh based public affairs television program

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