Column & Cartoon by…
Clintons In 2008 - Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow…
By Ron Callari
Will history repeat itself? Will Fleetwood Mac and the gang be dusted off one more time to usher the Clintons back into
the White House? Inquiring minds have been speculating and while the polls are not in, there is evidence that Bubba and
Hill might be circling the posse back to the Hill.
After all, the Clintons still control the Democrat Party. They have their handpicked DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe in
their back pocket. Only 2 1/2 years after leaving office, their popularity is sustained. And since they have a track
record of beating a Bush regime in the past, another Bush-whacking could be in the cards.
As Hillary serves in the Senate, she continues to build a voting record and the longer she stays at her post, the
longer that voting record becomes. Who says size doesn’t matter?
Her biography Living History although authored by a bevy of ghostwriters is an early indication that Hillary is forging
a power base. The up front advance and the initial sales hoisted up the first red flag that says Ms. Hillary is… in the
immortal words of our current Commander in Chief… "Bringing ‘em on"!
Hillary and Bill, the enabler and the enabled, tied together by some inexplicable bond and a Machiavellian belief that
the ends will always justify the means, have a plan that seems simple enough. If Hillary is going to be the leading
contender for the Democratic presidential ticket in 2008, the playing field must be laid clear.
This means that the Clintons would rather sabotage the next election in hopes that a Bush win in 2004 will exhaust a GOP
contender for the succeeding election. This would then clear the path for Mighty Mouse Hillary to swoop in and save the
day, resurrecting the party and scoring a win for the Dems in 2008!
The Clintons are shrewd politicians. They know that if the political current swings far enough to the right over the
next five years, they will be able to surf the inevitable wave back to the left by 2008.
This is no where more evident than in the rise and fall of the sacrificial lamb, Mr. Al Gore. The Clintons covertly
pushed Gore out the door to allow the new roster of Democrats to engage in one big Slamfest. The thought being… if
infighting wipes out the Democratic faction in 2004, Hillary can enter the ring in 2008 victoriously, sans competition.
The Clintons value power more than life itself. Loyalty and party affiliation must take a back seat. Ironically, it is
their ruthless desire for power that could make Bill and Hillary secret allies of the Republicans until 2008.
The one GOP wild card however, and the one worth watching over the course of the next few years is the ascent to power
of one Condoleezza Rice. If the Bush team is savvy enough to pick up on the Clinton master plan, they may be hatching a
brainchild of their own. To counter the former first couple’s next move, if Bush pushes Cheney aside in favor of Condi
as his next running mate, this high stakes chess game might just be elevated to its next level of play.
The move would improve the perception of this administration’s stance on diversity. If nothing else it is a visible
example of a black person who is an independent thinker and one who exudes confidence; probably even more so than Colin
Powell. But the long upshot of such a move would position Ms. Rice on center stage for a 2008 nod herself.
If that comes to past, the chess board would be reduced to two queens duking it out while their lame duck
kings-in-waiting watch from the sidelines. Talk about the catfight of the century.
Nonetheless, the Clintons continually re-invent themselves and their resurgence is getting great reviews from all
quarters. Many Democrats who had worried that the Clinton scandals would haunt the party until they vanished from the
political scene now feel their notoriety enhances their popularity. While Americans experience mounting job losses and
other economic downturns while Bush drives the bus, the Clintons are getting renewed respect throughout the country for
the boom years that marked their time behind the wheel.
So don’t stop thinking about tomorrow…it will soon be here! Better than before? Only his and her-story will tell.
Clintons in 2008…what a pair!
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Ron Callari is a freelance journalist and editorial cartoonist who resides in Jersey City, New Jersey. He and
co-creator Jack Pittman produce kidd millennium cartoons weekly. See… www.kiddmillennium.com/writer.htm