As therapy, Clinton may hit the stumps against vulnerable foes and participate in raising $10 million for "Majority 2000," a fund to be divided by House and Senate Democratic candidates for a self-explanatory goal. Anxious to fill the void of much ado about something with much ado about anything, pundits immediately questioned the wisdom of this tactic. They noted that presidential advisors are fearful of approval slippage should the public perceive its chief executive as vindictive, and that the historical record on presidential "hits" is less than enviable.
Most commonly cited is Franklin Roosevelt's 1938 assault on a few Southern Democrats who resented the New Deal's interference in their quaint way of doing things in Dixie. Failing stupendously in ridding himself of these Neolithics, FDR managed only to stir up more resentment. Yet Roosevelt, with an eye toward reelection, battled entrenched members of his own party, in primaries, and in districts with precious few enticeable voters. He attacked the impenetrable, good-old-boy armory of the Old South machine. Clinton, a lame duck, is wanting to target vulnerable opposition members in a general election in swing districts. As an analogy, FDR's '38 debacle is a perplexing one.
Unsurprisingly, the GOP erupted en masse with shock - shock! I tell you - over Clinton's intentions, charging a campaign of vindictiveness. During the initial huffishness The New York Times reported an entertaining understatement of the charge - what one might call a blockbuster "Well, dah." According to The Times, House Republican Jay Dickey of Arkansas (actually) said, "If he's going to personalize this thing, then it's going to take us back a step in terms of cooperation...." Didn't Tojo say something along those lines when MacArthur counterattacked?
What seems like staggering obtuseness on Dickey's part is probably, at least one would hope, only his party's defensive strategy poorly stated. For the next 21 months every White House deed and thought, expressed or not, will be met with Republican imputations of sinister doings. To engender as much public sympathy for themselves and sourness on Clinton, Republicans will adopt an Aw-shucks-what'd-we-do? approach; in short, the bully mentality. Bullies love to push, but when pushed back, cry foul.
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