If there were any thoughts that the Clinton political dynasty had come to an end, you would be dead wrong. During the first Saturday of June of this year while on the steps of the National Building Museum in Washington D.C., Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton officially suspended her presidential bid to the White House. But to everyone’s amazement, quiet talk had been going on about what Bill and especially Hillary planned to do in 2012 and beyond. So let me remind everyone…and I mean everyone…especially those who are talking about the “end” of the Clinton dynasty. I for one am not counting them out yet.
Webster defines the word “dynasty” as the succession of powerful families. Chelsea Clinton maybe an only child…she maybe your sweet unsuspecting daughter who would stand in the background and let her mother and father rise to the occasion, but her succession still has yet to be determined. So don’t just write the Clinton names onto a political tombstone. The Clinton’s were magnanimous at the end and they left their political footprints in the sand of the political beaches.
The Clintons are like the Carringtons or the Ewings in politics. The media loves every minute of them. BTW…I stand corrected…WE all love every minute of them. You either love them, or hate them. However, with the kind of campaign that Senator Hillary Clinton ran, she deserves to be considered for Emmy nominations.
By far, the Clintons did bring a lot of excitement, intrigue, and drama for many of us in the media. The media were all reporting about it right up until the very last minute just before former President Clinton took center stage yesterday evening in what is being described as adding the “cherry on the top” for the Democratic National Convention. The journalists, reporters, bloggers, pundits, and the satirists/comics…whether you agree with them or not…whether you had busted your butt to cover their campaign or not, all have to admit that the Clintons’ “made-for-television mini series” created a lot of discussion and furor during these past eighteen months. We all drooled over them, took time to watch them, took time to write or fight about them, and took well over twenty thousand hours worth of media coverage to present them to the public.
After tonight’s acceptance speech by the newly nominated Democratic Nominee, Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic National Convention will be able to claim two historic moments under it’s belt – having the first African American (Barak Obama) nominated for the highest position in this country and having the first woman (Hillary Rodham Clinton) ever to place second as a candidate for POTUS.
Just in the past 48 hours, the Clintons, with elegance, style and magnanimity showed not only the people
inside the Pepsi Convention Center, the nation, and also the world why they “are THE Clintons.” In a supposedly “surprise” appearance by the presidential nominee himself last night, Barack Obama reminded an excited crowd of thousands inside the center how Senator Clinton “rocked” the house the night before, then gave accolades about how President Clinton, during his administration as a democratic president, had put the “American People” first.
When everything is said and done…after all of the debates are over…when political ads are no longer airing…after Americans have cast their votes…and when you have another president elected (provided we don’t have to go through another recount) the Clintons will still be THE Clintons. They are a permanent fixture on every life of every American. After this year, we may ask ourselves if the Clintons still have political clout. In some political circles, that belief is slowly diminishing. We all saw a glimpse of that during the democratic rules committee meeting. The Clinton supporters did not get their way, but had to make compromises.
When President Clinton took office in 1993, many of his “enemies” constantly tried to find things that would question his integrity and his administration. Whitewater surfaced and everyone including Hillary knew about Bill’s past philandering. However, when it came time to address his critics and the public, the pointing/wagging of President Clinton’s finger and the categorical denials were repeatedly played over by the media. The squelched impeachment is historic and will become connected to his legacy.
People are now asking about the legacy of Senator Hillary Clinton. Many will say that her run for the White House, along with the garnering of over 18 million votes, and the way that she exited, suggests that she will endeavor to keep her clout and her political future possibilities open. And let’s not forget about Chelsea in 2020.
