re: #101 Targetpractice
It could be easily described in five words: “The one that got away.” An entire generation of journalists cut their teeth digging through dumpsters and shaking down witnesses in pursuit of the “Clinton Crime Family” and many still feel bitter that all their hard work amounted to nothing more than boosted poll numbers for Bill and a successful Senate run for Hillary.
For the GOP, it was an opportunity to “balance the scales,” to finally get out from under the dual specters of Watergate and Iran-Contra. They had it all bet on going one step further: Not just impeaching Bill, but removing him from office in such a public fashion that the public would never doubt his guilt. So to not only fail at that, but to take it in the pants at the voting booth that same year was a level of humiliation they’ve never been able to forgive.
My mom, who was in her late 70s at the time, told me she liked Bill Clinton and really couldn’t understand why some people hated him so much. She said he seemed like a nice guy. She died before the Monica Lewinsky “scandal” and the unsuccessful impeachment proceedings, but I have a feeling she would not have changed her mind. Mom was not especially political, and like many other Americans, just judged politicians by a gut feeling. The way I see it, the GOP and the anti-Clinton brigade entirely misjudged the American voters’ reaction to the Lewinsky affair. They were unable to create the kind of visceral revulsion to things Clinton among the voters, because most voters (like my Mom) could see it was just partisan politics and not worth getting upset about.
The GOP also misjudged voters’ reaction to Nixon post-Watergate. My Dad, who was a lifelong Republican until then, soured on Nixon when it became clear Nixon was a crook. He did not like Carter, probably voted for Reagan and HW Bush, but I also suspect he voted for Clinton.
Fast forward to 2015-16. The GOP really misjudged voter response to Trump, and Trump’s tractability. His popularity obviously confounded all his primary opponents, and TBH, the Democrats, too. And I suspect the GOP now thinks Trump will remain popular long enough to keep their majority in Congress. Methinks otherwise. Most voters are getting tired of his horseshit.