Obama Would Be Wise To Follow Clinton Example
It doesn’t take a crystal ball at this point to predict the outcome of tomorrows election. Absent a minor miracle, Senator Obama will become the next President of the United States. What his election really means in terms of the expressed political sentiment of the voters requires closer examination.
Even the most diehard GOP loyalists have to admit that things have not gone well under the leadership of George W. Bush. Whether he is entirely to blame for the problems we face, or if he was a victim of circumstances beyond his control is a matter that will be hotly debated by partisans and scholars alike. There can be little doubt that the attacks of 9/11 were the defining moment of his presidency, and that he had the political misfortune to begin and end his time in office at natural low points in the business cycle. These are circumstances that would have challenged the greatest leaders in our history, and we have no way of knowing how they might have responded differently.
The choice of Senator Obama as our next president is a clear indication that Americans are ready for a change. What we don’t know is exactly how radical a change voters are prepared to accept. The choice to move away from a far right agenda does not automatically mean that we prefer a shift to the far left in its place. The contentious primary race for the Democratic nomination is a clear indication that no real consensus exists, even within the Democratic party.
There is a great deal of pent up demand for a new era of big government among the hardcore liberals who have not had a truly sympathetic ear in the White House since Jimmy Carter. Already rumors are circulating that indicate Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are planning to introduce a series of pro-labor initiatives before a new president is even sworn into office. The most notable proposals would eliminate the secret ballot requirement for union elections, and require employers to provide paid sick leave for workers. The idea that job growth can be stimulated by imposing additional burdens on employers defies the basic laws of economics, but these are exactly the sort of ideas that make old school liberals salivate. They are also the sort of proposals that President Obama would be well advised to view with a healthy dose of skepticism.
As much as I dislike the man for his personal failings, I have to grudgingly admit that Bill Clinton was perhaps the most successful centrist president of my lifetime. He learned a few hard lessons early in his first term about how far left the American public was willing to lean. The healthcare fiasco ultimately brought about a voter backlash that cost his party control of the House and Senate for the first time in 40 years. From that point forward he put forth a series of moderate policies that allowed him to be the first Democratic president to win re-election since Franklin Roosevelt. The fact the meaningful welfare reform and NAFTA were both signed into law by a Democratic president, and that he left office with a 65% approval rating is a remarkable statement about the true sentiment of the American voter. President Obama would be wise to follow his example.