Here's the word from Bill Clinton as he prepares to run for First Gentleman: "I think it's important, and Hillary does, too, that she go out there as if she's never run for anything before and establish her connection with the voters . . ." Good idea. It would let her wipe the slate clean of all her scandals, deceptions, failures and everything else she'd prefer that the voters forget. And she might be able to do it, too, for her forgettery can be impressive. Some of us can hardly wait for the new, born-again Hillary--just another presidential candidate introducing herself to the voters.
But what about the rest of us? Are we to suddenly develop amnesia, too? It's not easy to turn the memory off on order--like some well-trained subject of Big Brother's in 1984. ("We've always been at war with Eastasia . . .") It's one thing for Our Forgetful Lady of Benghazi to drop her entire history down the memory hole, along with those old billing records she somehow misplaced for the longest time . . . but what if you're just a plain old American free to think his own thoughts? 'Tain't easy. Indeed, it may be impossible.
In an unaccustomed burst of modesty, our former governor/president now says: "I've told Hillary that I don't think I'm good [at campaigning] any more because I'm not mad at anybody. I'm a grandfather, and I got to see my granddaughter last night, and I can't be mad." Yet one of the most successful campaigners (and presidents) in American history was Dwight Eisenhower, who never seemed mad at anybody. On the contrary, he played grandfather to the whole country, remaining calm through crisis after world-shaking crisis while others ranted and raved all about him.
As president, he left it to the Joe McCarthys to cry treason--and to Nikita Khrushchev of the late not-so-great Soviet Union to bang his shoe on the table and swear he'd bury us capitalists. All the while Ike stayed above the fray, occasionally flashing that trademark ear-to-ear grin of his. Some of us still miss him. We liked Ike--as so many Americans did. And counted on his calm and composure. We'd all be better off today off if our current leaders would follow his example.
Editorial on 04/16/2015