The Clinton Jinx
Wherever George W. Bush campaigns for a candidate, he brings victory.
Wherever Bill Clinton campaigns, he seems to bring the stench of failure along with him. Deborah Orin notes this remarkable string of Clinton failures:
Clinton helped launch [Weasel] Clark in a wave of media buzz by talking up the retired general as one of the Democrats’ top two stars - along with wife Hillary - and prodding allies like Mickey Kantor to back him.And guess whose big mug was grinning from ear to ear at Paul Wellstone’s “memorial service.” -- PoliPunditBut political novice Clark is sinking in most polls, down to also-ran status in Iowa and New Hampshire, and had a few deer-in-the-headlights moments at last Sunday’s debate.
Officially, Clinton now insists he wasn’t promoting the retired general, but other Democratics don’t buy it. “Yeah, and he never had sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky,” sniffed a rival strategist.
What now looks like Clinton’s Clark miscalculation comes on top of other missteps by the former president - like claiming the way to stop Arnold Schwarzenegger in California was for Gov. Gray Davis to copy his own strategy during the impeachment crisis.
Funny how Clinton disappeared at the end of that race.
Or take Clinton’s all-out 2002 push to beat President Bush’s brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, last fall. Jeb won by landslide. And many other Democratic candidates last fall asked Clinton to puh-leeze stay out of their states.