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Bill Clinton vs. Bill Clinton
When I first saw Bill Clinton address small groups of voters in 1991-92, the combination of his amazing skill at policy-wonkery with his amazingly fluid, empathetic persona made him one of the most formidable politicians I had ever seen. In this current election campaign, it is as though Clinton has been split into two opposing personalities. Hillary has his policy-wonkery, Obama his empathy and charisma.
Or, as Irving Babbitt put it, liberalism since its origins in the 18th century has consisted of two different liberalisms, which are sometimes at war with each other: the rationalistic, aimed at re-engineering society, and the romantic, aimed at some collective experience of liberation or human oneness. Hillary embodies the first liberalism, Obama the second. And the two are now indeed in a war. Email entry |