He repeatedly suggested that a McCain presidency would essentially be George Bush’s “third term,” offering “more of the same.”
The charge was effective and worked well for Senator Obama. The “change” mantra is a powerful political message. In fact, there is a well-established trend in modern political history of the American people flipping to the “out” party after one party has controlled the White House for eight years.
For example, after eight years of Republican Dwight Eisenhower, Democrat John Kennedy won.
After eight years of Democrats Kennedy and Johnson, Republican Nixon won.
After eight years of Nixon and Ford, Democrat Jimmy Carter won. Carter’s presidency was such a disaster that the American people didn’t wait eight year to change parties, and they elected Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Reagan’s presidency was so successful that the American people gave him a “third term” in the election of his vice president, George H. W. Bush.
After eight years of Democrat Bill Clinton, the American people chose Republican George W. Bush. And eight years later, they swung back to the Democrats with the election of Barack Obama.
Now, I do not mean to suggest that the outcome of each election is fatalistically pre-ordained. Of course issues, candidates and events do matter.
But the trend is significant enough that Obama seized on the “change” mantra and made it a central theme of his campaign. In voting for Senator Obama, the American people clearly rejected the idea of a “third Bush term.”
But there is an old saying in Washington: “Personnel is policy.” And it seems from President-elect Obama’s appointments that we are getting Bill Clinton’s third term. As I mentioned in a previous report, an overwhelming percentage of Obama appointments have ties to the Clinton Administration, and he has continued to tap the “Clinton well” in the past few days.
His choice for Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, served as under secretary for international affairs during the Clinton Administration. Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton, may be brought into the White House as President-elect Obama’s senior economic advisor. Vice President-elect Joe Biden chose as his chief of staff, Ron Klain, who was Vice President Al Gore’s chief of staff for four years during the Clinton Administration. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who was the Energy Secretary and UN ambassador under Bill Clinton, reportedly will be Secretary of Commerce. And we’re still waiting for the formal announcement that Hillary will get the plum post of Secretary of State.
In one way, Obama has succeeded in bringing people together. Many conservatives and progressives are furious that so many “Clintonistas,” including Hillary herself, have been appointed to key positions.
Leftists who voted for Obama hoping for “change” are feeling cheated because it appears as though we are going “back to the future”and getting Bill Clinton’s “third term.”
Conservatives who lived through those scandal ridden years and those, like me, who had their FBI files pulled by hyper-partisan bureaucrats aren’t looking forward to reliving them.
