Bill and Bush: the comeback kids
Bill Clinton referred to himself as “The Comeback Kid” during the 1992 campaign, when his moribund candidacy was revived in the state of New Hampshire. Now Clinton might be poised to quite literally come back—to the White House, that is, only this time as the first Presidential husband ever. We’d have to coin a phrase for it: First Man? Bill’s return would make Clinton-haters’ blood boil almost as much as would its cause, Hillary’s election.
Nixon was another famous comebacker. When he said they wouldn’t have him to kick around anymore, after his 1962 loss in the California gubernatorial election, it was hardly envisioned that he would become President just six years later.
Bush cannot ever be elected President again (do I hear sighs of relief from many quarters?) and wife Laura is highly unlikely to pull a Hillary and run. But Bush is having his own modest comeback lately. Congressional opponents who thought they had him on the ropes vis a vis Iraq and the surge have had to realize that they simply do not have the votes to override his agenda. How they ever thought they might in the first place is a mystery to me; they would have needed substantial Republican support that never seemed to be there.
The lesson seems to be that, in politics, it’s not very savvy to underestimate your opponent or count him/her out. Those who are attracted to the political fray often have an unusual and unexpected ability to bounce back.
“First Gentleman” would be the grammatically correct form; how that might reasonably be applied to Bill Clinton is another question.
The idea of the Clintons back in the White House makes me gag.
I suspect Hillary, if she does manage to get in, would not allow Bill to share pizza or any vital fluids with any interns. Unfortunately the possibility of Ms Clinton reaching that exalted office is the sad price the record of Mr. Bush will exact. Hopefully a strong and vigorous candidacy by Mr. Thompson might save us from the prospect of the Clinton’s inhabiting the White House yet again. One suspect the common sense and rationalism of the American voter will prevail.
I’m imagining the sycophants at that dinner table:
Hill: Pass the peas.
Syco: Yes, Mrs President.
Bill: Pass the beans.
Syco: Yes, Mr President.
Yes, like the Clinton Presidency was such a disaster compared to the one we’re currently enduring.
Given a choice between flawed chief executives, Clinton and his interns were a better deal for the US than Bush with his codpieces and useless wars.
I’m with Jason D: “First Gentleman” would be my first choice, for now. With Bill, it would need to be amended to “First Scoundrel”.
For a British twist, we could go with “First Consort”, or “Presidential Consort”, or “Executive Consort”. Yet, with Bill and Hillary, again, that would not accurately describe their situation. What – in this genre – would be accurate? “First ‘Not on Your Life'”? “First ‘Priority for the Secret Service to Keep Away From Me?'” “First Campaign Asset?”
George W. Bush was a fighter pilot. The best strategy in a dogfight is to let your opponent think he’s doing great, right up until the time you kill him.
Bush the comeback kid. What a hoot. Yeh and there’s no housing bubble. It’s amazing what so people will tell themselves.
Looking Glass
Oh I thought the lesson from George W. Bush’s days as a “fighter pilot” was if you don’t show up you can’t be shot down.
The interesting thing about the trolls is how uninteresting their comments are. Why do they bother?
“Why do they bother?”
Because they truly believe that, if they take every opportunity to express their hate and contempt for anyone who doesn’t tell them what they want to hear, they will create a wave of popular support that will sweep them into power.
They fail to realize that Dubya was not elected because of the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, but because his popular support was enough to overcome their sabotage. To them, correlation is the same as causation, which also explains their support for pseudo-scientific boondoggles like GM bans and the fight against global warming.
I’m looking forward to a Rumsfeld comeback!
But, but, don’t you realize that “they” control us?
After 8 years of Hillary, we get 8 years of Jeb. Followed by 8 years of Chelsea, then 8 years of Barbara….
Who’s going to use a nuke on a city first, though? That’s what I want to know.