Two for One

Today's Tribune included a column by an irascible Royko wannabe who asks what Hillary should "do" about Bill. The writer feels that the junior Senator from New York would have a better chance at the Presidency if she could keep her husband out of sight until November 2008.

I have heard this sort of thing before and it confuses me. For the only reason Hillary's candidacy excites me is that it will get Bill back on centerstage. To quote the current tagline of his Presidential Library, "I miss Bill." He made my friends and I feel as though we have a place at the table. He understood our interests and considered them. Even though we weren't/aren't rich white men, we were included. We never felt that way about Presidents Reagan, Bush or Bush.

Hillary is a bright woman. A talented politician. But I do not feel that she loves public service the way her husband does. I sense that she approaches it out of a sense of duty. She wants to do as much as she can, and the top office is where you can get the most done. I sense that Bill Clinton loves it. All of it. From the handshaking to the policy minutiae. Where she seems about power, he seems about passion.

Unfortunately he was, ultimately, more about passion and promise than performance. I was disappointed in many things about the Clinton Presidency. Some of them broke my heart.

But if, come November 2008, I vote for Hillary, it will be for the BOGO.