Finneran: Yesterday’s Over
Friday, April 17, 2015
Really? Is it? Is yesterday ever over?
The question has become a worrisome one for Hillary Clinton. For Jeb Bush too.
Senator Marco Rubio used the phrase as he made his presidential announcement, apparently aiming for a twofer---creating an impressive emphasis on his youthful energy and vitality (think JFK and Barack Obama) and underlining Mrs. Clinton’s multi-decade presence in the public arena.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWiseguys have already pointed out that Mrs. Clinton has not driven a car for more than twenty years. And Clinton critics state that at $300,000 a pop, her public speeches about income inequality seem odd to say the least. Regarding Jeb Bush, word is that he is a nice guy and that he was a good Governor. But will America say enough is enough? Both his father’s and his brother’s presidencies ended with a sense of utter fatigue. Their administrations became tired and the public became exhausted.
Consider too the monarchic imagery. Will it be shown that robust and dynamic America cannot produce exceptional and energetic candidates for the presidency and simply succumbs to the royal families factor?
Curiously enough, Massachusetts seems to have moved in another direction. Deval Patrick, Maura Healey, and Elizabeth Warren were all elected to positions of great responsibility with absolutely no previous experience in public office. Not only was their absence of experience not seen as a handicap, in actuality it helped present them as new and exciting leaders unencumbered by a politics of the past. It is of course a huge advantage to do one’s campaign painting on an unsmudged pristine canvas.
In fact Barack Obama himself was astute enough to figure out that if he stayed for more than a term or two in the U.S. Senate gaining “experience”, that he would become smirched and stale in the public’s eye. All those votes, procedural and substantive, become clubs to be used by opponents asking their version of the “when did you stop beating your wife” question. Senator Obama was not going to wait around for that.
Back to the fatigue factor…….the elections of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were deemed “change elections” by knowledgeable observers. The public, seeking “change” from the status quo of Bush 41 and Bush 43, voted for candidates who appeared to present a refreshing break from that status quo, thus the “change”. It’s beyond ironic that both Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton could go down in flames in 2016 because of the public’s rarely quenched thirst for such change. Hillary of course will be viewed as a third-term candidate—either “Obama’s third term” or her husband Bill’s third term. Either way is not good politics for her because Americans don’t like third terms. Jeb carries the same baggage. First his father. Then his brother. It’s like buying stale bread. Who does that? And isn’t twelve years, or even eight years, enough for one family? Is the White House to be treated as a tenth generation American family farm, simply passed down from one generation to another to another?
Waiting to be seen in the months ahead will be the attitude of the press regarding Hillary as candidate. Jeb will be grilled, rightly so. So will every other candidate with the possible exception of Hillary. Any fair observer of 2008 and 2012 would conclude that President Obama was given kid-glove treatment by the press. His candidacy was unique, it was historic, and it was a great story. The press went in the tank where they have essentially dog-paddled around now for several years. The question is whether Hillary gets the same kid-glove “historic candidacy” treatment? I’ll concede the possibility of it happening but I don’t think she’ll get to skate. She’s nowhere near as novel as Senator Obama was in 2008, in part because of her own hard-fought campaign that year. She’s a tough cookie but not a new cookie.
Her fans love her tenacity. But that tenacity reminds folks of many yesterdays ago.
Is yesterday over?
Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio.
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