Word: evening
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...will miss the man himself. Frankly, I think everyone will, even the conspiracy theorists, the impeachment managers and the betrayed leftists who rallied around Ralph Nader's granola-munching march to irrelevance. We will miss him because in an age of small men, when lackluster eldest sons duel for the presidency and petty time-servers scrabble for scraps in Congress, Bill Clinton was huge, a towering figure across our political landscape. Like Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, he "doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus," and his defeated enemies could only join voice with Cassius in saying that "the fault...
There were many of them, these enemies--half the country, at various times. But they--we--lost and Clinton won, so completely and unexpectedly that even now it boggles the mind. Like captive barbarians paraded in a Roman triumph, the vanquished Republican champions pass before us: the hapless Bush the Elder, checking his watch during a debate and fading into the Kennebunkport twilight; the brilliant Gingrich, undone by Clinton's charm and his own erratic temperament; the caustic, unhappy Dole, grimacing as Clinton sailed past his floundering campaign and into a second term. Finally, there was Ken Starr, the rosy...
...great president, that much is certain, nor even, perhaps, a good one. He lacked the sweeping vision of a Reagan or a Roosevelt, let alone the decency and humility of a Truman; his only vision involved his own power, and the other virtues were banished from his White House early on. But he was an interesting President, perfectly suited for a time when politics resembles a spectator sport, broadcast into millions of homes through the good offices of CNN. He inspired more novels and biographies, more praise and more hatred, than any leader since Nixon--perhaps since FDR, even...
...runs out and we keep on playing, which might explain the public's patience with the candidates' choice not to surrender. Americans forgive ambition; we like grit and persistence, treat them as virtues as long as the cause seems just. An old Republican well into his 70s telephoned an even older Democrat last week in Washington. Both men had flirted with the presidency; one had even survived a primary or two. The Republican asked his old friend, Could you do it? If you were this close, could you turn away? The other guy, now past 80, laughed and said...
...lets him think he can win. Bush is a baseball guy; he understands extra innings. But under the rules, he's sure he's the victor; a few foul balls and close calls are just part of the great game. Last week's recounts all put him ahead, even after hundreds of unpostmarked overseas military ballots were thrown out, and the only thing that could change that was a hand recount of three heavily Democratic counties. On what grounds would it have been "grownup" or "statesmanlike" for Bush to have walked off the field...