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FORUM 'My Life' or my fable? Earl Ofari Hutchinson Guest JC a \ u m n i s t With the passage of time, the Bush administration's foreign pol icy and domestic bumbles, and the lackluster performance by the crew of Democratic presidential candidates during the primaries, former President Bill Clinton not only has been personally and politically rehabilitated, but hailed as a political genius. The over whelming temptation is to inflate his life story and political deeds to Olympian heights. As the Democrat that took back the White House in 1992 after 1 2 years of Republican rule, the story line is that he snatched a big page from Ronald Reagan's ideological playbook, and ouf Republicaned the Republicans. He pledged to ramp up America's military prowess, aggressively fight terrorism, crack down on crime, and reign in domestic spending. He resuscitated a mori bund Democratic Party and made it a competitive political force nationally. He did all this and still came off as a champion of racial justice and social reform. The truth is quite different. In 1992, Clinton did not handily defeat Bush Sr. Clinton won with a minority of the popular vote, one of only a handful of presidents in the 20th century to do that. Bush Sr. got fewer white male votes than Reagan and Richard Nixon in their smashing presidential wins, and those votes are always the ones that make or break a presi dential candidate. But Clinton did n't get those votes. Reform Party presidential candidate Ross Perot, with his anti-government assault, grabbed them. That did more to sink the Bush presidency than Clinton's vaunted charm, charis ma and tilt-tu-the-right "New Democrat" forgotten man pitch. In 1996, Clinton's political good fortune held up. Clinton's opponent, the venerable Republi can Party warhorse Robert Dole, inspired little voter enthusiasm. And Republicans reeled from the tarnish of their rancorous but failed fight over Newt Gingrich's Contract with America and the Pat Buchanan insurgency, which siphoned conservative votes from the Republicans. This ensured Clinton's walk-over victory. Clinton did not heal the divi sions and rivalries in the Democ ratic Party, or define a political identity that separated the Democ rats from tail-ending the Republi cans on policy issues. During Clinton's terms, the Democrats lost more ground in state and national elections that they had in decades. In his first year in office, the Democrats had the presidency (him), the House. Senate, and a majority of governorships. By the time he left office eight years later, Republicans increased their num ber of governorships, and their control of Congress. Despite being a child of the South, Clinton did not loosen the Republicans' iron grip on the South and mid America. Clinton also served as the perfect whipping boy and straw man for the Republicans to solidify their conservative ideolo gy within their party and much of the media. Clinton gave Bible-thumping speeches at black churches, sur rounded by a gaggle of black Democrats, and made a few well publicized appointments of blacks "My Life Bill Clinton to cabinet posts. This did much to sell his image as a dedicated fight er for racial justice and a social reformer. Blacks eagerly gave him more than 80 percent of their vote and dubbed him an honorary "soul brother." But Clinton was no liberal reformer. He radically downsized welfare, toughened federal anti crime and drag laws, and pared away affirmative action programs. These were all Reagan. Bush Sr. and Nixon proposals that the Con gressional Black Caucus and lib eral Democrats vehemently opposed, and had languished in Congress. The ranks of the black poer quickly soared; the number* jailed for mostly nonviolent, non serious crimes jumped; and funds for skill and education programs to permanently break the welfare cycle for the poor evaporated. Current President Bush's black and Latino cabinet appoint ments of Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez were far more significant in terms of making key policy decisions than any of Clinton's black and Latino appointments. Clinton's party dominance badly hurt the Democrats in 2000. Democratic presidential candidate A1 Gore was mute on issues such as urban investment,' health care for the uninsured, failing inner city public schools, and criminal justice reform. This brand of polit ical plantationism alienated and angered many blacks and Latinos. They stayed away from the polls in droves and turned what shoulij have been an easy Gore victory into a numbing defeat. . Clinton's negative stamp was firmly imprinted on the Democ rats during the primaries when the white Democratic presidential contenders tried to out-Bush Bush on national security, the war on terrorism, and greater defense spending and preparedness. Their talk on domestic issues consisted mostly of hammering Bush on tax cuts and his grossly under-funded No Child Left behind education initiative. This ignited no spark among minority voters. Even now, presumptive Democratic presi dential candidate John Kerry's spike up in the polls is due mostly to public anguish over Bush's Iraq quagmire. Clinton's "My Life" is not the milestone in presidential story telling that his PR flacks boast. But it will do much to further establish the myth that Clinton was a political genius. But then a storybook written by a president wouldn't be complete without myths. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. Visit his news and opinion Web site: www.thehutchinsonreporl.com. He is the author of "The Crisis in Black and Black" (Middle Pas sage Press). A love letter to Clinton Armstrong Williams Guest Some people have it: that special intangible that drawf - no, pulls - your eyes. They emote empathy, maybe even a calm spiritualism. But they also seem like us. No look of statue. Maybe even a bit fat. This is key. They inhabit a realm that is just a few degrees from us. This gives us hope. Former President Clinton has it - that endearing smile that draws you in. There is no excuse for liking him. But we do. He shows up for a book signing, and it is not a discussion; it is a pseudo event. He love-bombs the audience. Maybe he hugs someone dressed a bit too shab bily, someone who has trouble with the bills. We fawn over this. Already, the forthcoming release of his book has been transformed into a full-scale pseudo event. There will be appearances on "Oprah." "60 Minutes," and town hall meet ings. In many ways, he is pro moting his book the same way he promoted his presidency: not so much by achieving historical significance, but by embracing and exuding the popular culture of his nation. He was warm, effusive, warmly expressive and horribly endearing. He played the saxophone, listened to Elvis, appeared oti MTV and said "aw shucks." He consciously associ ated himself with the popular culture. He surrounded himself with movie and music stars. This son of a poor white work ing class family proclaimed that he was one of us - albeit a bit more charming and well-known - and we rewarded him not just with votes, but with a sense of personal connectedness. When Princess Diana died, people who had never met her cried. They felt a sense of loss in their personal lives, even though their own daily drudgery remained unchanged. Diana had that quality that allowed people to fill her up with their hopes and passions. Clinton has it too. In a democracy, that counts for a lot. Yes, of course, there were the sandals: Hillary care. Travel gate, Whitewater, Filegate. impeachment hearings, a per jury conviction. Even the last few days of Clinton's presiden cy were marked with scandal, after he rubber-stamped pardons for his friends and sponsors. There can be no justification for using the powers of the presi dency to shield friends from jus tice. Clinton's intentionally false testimony regarding whether he ever engaged in sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky similar ly made a mockery of the com mander-in-chief's duty to see that the laws are faithfully exe cuted. In the end. even his indiscre tions were twisted to his advan tage. He's that charming. Every tints he was caught with his hand in the jar, he simply hegan wagging his plump little fingers at the Republicans. Unable to defend Clinton's actions, the Democrats would circle the wagons and- paint his. accusers as some extremist segment of society. In doing so, they man aged to endow Clinton with an almost heroic quality. Of course, the reality was never that clearly drawn. Plain ly, Clinton did not choose to involve himself in the Whitewa ter, Filegate, and Travelgate scandiis because of Republican pressure. Nor did he grope his intern because of the Republi cans. Plainly, the president was not so much a victim of biparti sanism. but of his own inability to keep his appetites in check. Still, many of us forgive him. Most of us miss him. We call in favors just to secure a spot ar one of his book signings. This makes us feel close to cen ter stage. It has nothing to do with issues, hardly anything to do even with language. (Presi dential campaign ads have dropped in modal length from 30 minutes in 1952 to 30 sec onds in 1988.) Our modern leaders ascend as images, as suggestions. They act, speak and think in television terms. Wher ever they go, a perpetual ad floats off them like vapors. Pres ident Clinton strolls out for a book signing. We crane our necks for a peek. A star is bom. wwiN.armstrongwilliams.com Senator Linda Garrou North Carolina State Senate Serving You is My Business 32nd District P.O. Box 11843 Winston-Salem, NC 271 16 Tel: (336) 922-6142 Igarrou? lindagarrou.com Paid for by The Committee to Elect Linda Garrou Ava H. Blount Broker (336) 462-6086 DIRECT (336) 748-5318 BUSINESS (336) 748-5363 FAX realava aul.com D3 . coLouieu. BANKeRQ TRIAD, REALTORS 2XS S*Hjlh Si rat lord Road Winston -Salem. NC 27103 O Rep. Larry Womble NC House of Representatives 71st District Tel (336) 784-9373 Fax (336) 784-1626 E-Mail: LWistra@aol.com Home Address 1 294 Salem Lake Road Winston-Salem, NC 27107 % Whiting Filets 4-10 Pound Slabs $62.00 That's only 15.50 a slab! (sold only by the case) Holly Poultry (336) 725-9858 Corner of Fayetteville Street ano Waughtown Winston-Salem, NC ? ? l Louise E. 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