Bill Clinton, the Bush Buddy

WASHINGTON - Here’s a vividly ironic, and deeply symbolic, political moment: On the very day Bill Clinton was being embraced, almost literally, by father and son Bushes at the White House, Republicans were pushing through the Senate an anti-bankruptcy measure that corporate America has dearly wanted — and that Clinton vetoed as he was leaving office five years ago.

No wonder the Bushes, who play for the deepest of keeps, love having Clinton around. The former president has become the family’s favorite hunting trophy, a symbol of their (and the GOP’s) successful, decades-long rise to power. 

I imagine it’s tough, even for Clinton’s enemies, to hate the guy anymore. His “you-can’t-catch-me” cockiness is gone, but the effortless charm remains. Among baby boomers of all persuasions (including, I think, George W. Bush) the sense exists, perhaps grows more vivid, that Bill Clinton somehow embodies us all. It IS a long, strange trip, and Clinton’s well-worn visage is proof. White House aides say that, behind closed doors and up close, he looked hale enough the other day, his color good and his steps sure. Maybe so, but I saw him at the same distance a few weeks ago at an event in the Capitol, and he looked awful: Lincoln-thin, his big hands hanging limp at his sides, his face a pallid mask. A man who, for better or worse, was the very definition of unbridled vigor has been humbled. And so, of course, have we all.

Doctors say that Clinton’s lung-maintenance procedure is routine, and everyone hopes they are right. In the meantime, his latest White House drop-by prompts questions. Chief among them: Why the “Bill and the Bushes” alliance?

Benefits for the Bushes
For the Bushes, the benefits are clear. The Bush administration is one of the most relentlessly partisan in modern history. They didn’t invent the take-no-prisoners approach to politics, they just perfected it. Now they are facing a Democratic minority in the Congress (and much of the country) that has decided to answer in kind. While Bush’s GOP allies and conservative grass-roots groups attack furiously, the president himself can appear above the fray, laughing it up with the most successful Democratic office-seeker since FDR.

Bush can also use the proximity of Clinton to raise doubts about whether the angry and leftward-drifting Democratic leadership really speaks for the party. Clinton, after all, rose to power as leader of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council. While the Democrats debate their future, and their ideological orientation, Bush is allying himself with the DLC faction. Indeed, he has cited DLC positions (the group at one point expressed interest in privately financed Social Security accounts, for example) as justification for his own proposals.

Clinton was a divisive figure, but he remains the most popular figure in the party, and his intimate, personal style created thousands of people who still think of themselves as Friends of Bill. A lot FOBs are Big Money people who aren’t particularly comfortable in a Democratic Party now chaired by Howard Dean. Bush’s not-too-subtle message: Bill’s my buddy, come with me. Some did in 2004.

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