DOMA, deregulation of the financial sector, welfare reform, neglect of foreign policy, NAFTA, botching the politics of health care and ruining the prospects for meaningful reform for well over a decade while costs continued to inflate and access to health care decreased... these are odd ways of achieving left-wing goals.
And yet somehow the poor and middle class did better than they did under the previous four presidents and the next two presidents. Fewer Americans died in wars than in any other time in the past 20 years. The budget had substantial surpluses for the only time in living memory. The last Democratic president to leave office with a solid majority saying things were headed on the right direction since god knows when.
How do any of these trends relate to Clinton's policies? Would another decade of Clinton-esque governance have prevented 9/11, the financial crisis, or wage stagnation?
It's definitely a possibility. His CIA director was
attuned to the threat, but Bush was more focused on missile defense. Clinton is not a set of fixed policies ... the only thing fixed about him is his eager, optimistic curiosity and proactive approach the world.
Would Kennedy's health care plan have passed if Clinton had not tried for Hillarycare? Would torpedoing NAFTA really have saved the textile jobs? Would gay marriage have been legalized if Clinton had opposed DOMA?
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