POLITICAL STRATEGY, ELECTIONS AND WAR | 2004-10-16
In 2000, I certainly hated just about everything Gore said, but when they first announced he had won the 2000 election, I cheered. The economy was going down, but the Clinton Administration was going out on a record of pure prosperity.
In terms of political strategy I felt it would have been better if Gore won and he took charge of what he had inherited from Clinton's Magic Four Years. He would have made an incredible mess of September 11. I didn't know about 9/11 but I knew something was coming.
There is an article in the WhitakerOnline archives called "Superterrorism." It was reprinted almost three years later on September 11, 2001.
Superterrorism - Originally published November 21, 1998
Clinton's whole approach was visibly falling apart. I felt that four more years of a Clinton successor was just what was needed to sink the liberals.
But if this is the first election you vote in, it is very hard to have that sort of view. For a younger person, four years is a long, long time.
Most of my discussion of this election has concerned what Bill and Hillary Clinton are thinking. Their only are interest in 2004 is how it affects 2012, when Hillary will make her big run. If you're in the business, you look at elections in a very different way.