When Al Gore recently joined conservatives in supporting a special law to award Elian Gonzalez permanent U.S. residency, his maneuver was straight out of the playbook that has governed eight years of Clintonism: "Fake left, go right."
If a play like this works, Clintonites get to position themselves as thoughtful moderates between congressional Democrats and Republicans. This "triangulation" strategy was the brainchild of blissful bipartisan Dick Morris, a Clinton advisor who also worked for Republicans like Trent Lott and Jesse Helms.
Predictably, Gore's Elian move outraged many Democrats in Congress, especially those who have long criticized immigration policy for discriminating against Haitians and Dominicans while giving Cubans privileges.
No Democrat was more angry than powerful Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel (D.-N.Y.), who attacked Gore for being "purely political in order to appease the voters in Miami." Yet Rangel is in a bind when it comes to Clintonism, for he--like many other liberals--has chosen to wed himself to it while reserving the right to occasionally grouse. It was Rangel who helped launch the New York Senate candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton, a co-inventor of Clintonism, who promptly displayed her talents for unprincipled flip-flopping on a range of issues, including Israel and Puerto Rico.
While Clintonism may be good for Bill and Hillary and Al--all of whom seem willing to say or do anything to win the next election--it's worth asking whether Clintonism is good for the Democratic Party.
Let's do the numbers. When Clinton entered the White House, his party dominated the U.S. Senate, 57-43; the U.S. House, 258-176; the country's governorships, 30-18, and a large majority of state legislatures. Today, Republicans control the Senate, 55-45; the House, 222-211; governorships, 30-18, and almost half of state legislatures.
The Democrats under Clintonism resemble a house of cards, with the Clintons and Gore inhabiting the White House atop a party structure crumbling because of an ever-shifting foundation.
Democrats were once a majority party standing on some firm principles--helping the little guy, economic security and, to some degree, standing up to corporations on behalf of workers, consumers and the environment.
But Clintonism has come to mean coddling big money (except guns and tobacco), financial scandals, winning at any cost, flip-flopping and prevaricating.
