Published: May 03, 2008 12:31 am            

HOWEY: Obama and Clinton — A matter of dynasty, inertia and polarization

I have never been a Clinton hater. When Bill Clinton was president, he produced budget surpluses, reformed welfare (as we knew it) and passed landmark trade legislation. In 1998, as he was being impeached, Osama bin Laden was declaring a fatwa against us. When I suggested to Lee Hamilton that “America had taken its eye off the ball,” at first he dismissed the notion. But by the end of the conversation Hamilton acknowledged the statement had kernels of truth.

My concern about “President Hillary Clinton” is that this won’t be a bipartisan era; just the opposite. At a time after America has made many severe mistakes — Iraq and 30 years of energy/security inertia — my 2008 concern is this: What if America compounds her mistakes?

In 1973 and again in 1979, Presidents Nixon and Carter said we needed to be energy self-sufficient. During this past generation, our political leaders have ducked the issue. Now, we not only have $4 a gallon gas, the dollar is tanking, and we have inflation and recession.

Clinton is urging a suspension of the 18.4 cent a gallon federal gas tax. “There are a lot of people in Indiana who would really benefit from a gas tax holiday,” Clinton said at Miller Veneers in Indianapolis on Tuesday. “That might not mean much to my opponent, but I think it means a lot to people who are struggling here.” Such a suspension might provide temporary relief, like scratching poison ivy with your fingernails, but applying no ointment.

New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman explains, “This is money laundering: we borrow money from China, ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. When the summer is over, we will have increased our debt to China, increased our transfer of wealth to Saudi Arabia.”

I’m concerned about dynastic America. Our forefathers purposely created an America where power was not passed between families like kings and queens. Now we face Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton dynasties. We have had a Clinton or a Bush on the national ticket every year since 1980, which corresponds neatly with the era of energy inertia you are now experiencing at the pump. There are more Bushes and Clintons waiting in the wings.

Last week, after finishing an editorial board meeting, Barack Obama ended up at the Marion County Republican headquarters. “I knew a couple of guys outside, and they were bragging about the fact that Indianapolis has a Republican mayor, and I said you’ve had a couple of good ones,” Obama explained.

“Dick Lugar was a good mayor. I do think Republicans, like Democrats, are looking for something different. They are concerned about the policies, and more people are struggling to pay their health care bills, people are losing their jobs, people are losing their homes, are concerned about our foreign policy and the war in Iraq,” he said.

“So,” Obama continued, “we have an opportunity to reach out to these Republicans and get them involved in a new movement to really govern with common sense and pragmatism as opposed to governing with ideology. I can’t be a polarizing figure.”

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is encouraging Hoosier Republicans to vote for Clinton, because he thinks she’ll be easier for John McCain to defeat in the fall. The Howey-Gauge Poll released this week show Hoosier Democrats split 46-46 between Obama and Clinton. Crossover Republicans and independents may decide this critical Democratic primary. I file the Limbaugh mischief under the “be careful what you wish for” category. A second Clinton presidency would be good for his radio show ratings. Rush feeds off polarization.

In his 2007 Springfield campaign kickoff, Obama mentioned two political figures: Lincoln and Lugar. “We had a common view that one of the most important things we need to do is lock down loose nuclear weapons, and he has obviously been a great leader with Sam Nunn on that issue,” Obama said of his relationship with Lugar. “But we’ve got to continue to make sure we make further progress. We could do an enormous amount in four years if we put in more resources. These are the kinds of issues Dick and I worked on. We worked on issues surrounding alternative energy and he has been a great leader on that as well.”

At Joe’s Junction last week, a Phillips 66 station in Indianapolis where gas was $3.65 a gallon (it’s $3.75 as I write this column), Obama accused “Washington politicians” of evading solutions to alternative energy “when they had the chance.” He talked of doubling efficiency standards, a windfall profit tax on the oil companies and long-term $150 billion investments in the green energy sector.

Lugar recruited Obama to serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and says Obama has a “broad scope.” When I asked Lugar about Obama’s presidential potential in 2007, he said, “In fairness to Barack, who are the alternatives?”

His tenure in the Illinois legislature and Congress has been slim, though Lincoln, too, had a thin resume. Asked if it was enough, Lugar answered, “Probably not,” but added, “Look at President Bush, who had six years as an executive as governor of Texas. He hardly had any foreign policy experience, which has become the defining part of his presidency. For better or worse, he was clearly limited.”

Of Obama, who traveled with Lugar to Russia in 2005 to monitor compliance with nuclear and chemical weapon containment, the Hoosier Republican added, “I think he has the potential to be a good president.”

Might Lugar have the ear of a “President Obama?”

“Sam Nunn, Lugar, Hamilton,” Obama began, “I think they represent a bipartisan tradition of a common sense, realistic foreign policy.”

Howey is publisher of Howey Politics Indiana at www.howeypolitics.com

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.