[Marxism] Nation Magazine dress rehearsal for 2008

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

What about Clinton's biggest lapse--her Iraq vote? For some antiwar
progressives, no doubt, it will be a deal-breaker. And, of course, they are
unlikely to be comforted by the fact that she really thought she was doing
the right thing, as people who are close to her insist she did. Yet to
focus on that one vote, again, misses the larger goal of Clinton's
politics. As she recognizes, the Democratic Party's problem on national
security far transcends the Iraq vote. Decades of assaults on Dems from the
right (helped along by international fiascoes presided over by Lyndon
Johnson and Jimmy Carter) have succeeded in persuading Americans that Dems
are fundamentally uncomfortable with the application of American "hard"
power abroad. As Clinton well knows, this is not something that can be
corrected by merely donning a pair of plastic hawk's wings. It's a
perception problem that will take a long time--and a lot of hard work--to
reverse. So she's methodically built up a comfort level--and comfort is the
key--with national security issues, joining the Armed Services Committee
and spending countless hours mastering military arcana. This approach is
far more involved and politically shrewd than just talking tough on the
Sunday chat shows. It's not off-putting to the Democratic base, which
loathes Joe Lieberman-style militaristic posturing. And it comes across as
genuine, because it's rooted in Clinton's strategy of emphasizing smart,
pragmatic government over ideology.

full: http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050606&c=5&s=sargent


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