Tipsheet

If You Want to Gauge the Democrats' Lurch Toward the Left, Read This Thread About Bill Clinton

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  April 04, 2024 6:30 AM

‘William Jefferson Clinton was a moderate Republican’ isn’t a new criticism of the former president—Michael Moore lobbed it in his book "Stupid White Men" years ago. Still, some pollsters and data crunchers have used it to analyze the former president, as his 1996 landslide was far from a foregone conclusion after the 1994 Republican Revolution. People thought this Slick Willy was dead in the water, and he might have been if it weren’t for Dick Morris’ triangulation overhaul concerning policy. In short, it eschewed far-left tendencies and gravitated toward the middle, attacking policies with healthy consensuses.

We’re a right-of-center country; no matter how much progressives deny that fact, it’s true and channeling that saved Clinton’s presidency. Patrick Ruffini of Echelon Insights decided to construct a lengthy Twitter thread about Clinton’s 1996 comeback, how his presidency stole some GOP initiatives, and how some issues that Clinton championed still resonate today, like being tough on crime and curbing illegal immigration. 

The things that stand out are simple: being pro-public safety, pro-law enforcement, pro-work, and anti-illegal immigration sells with voters. It still does. It also shows what happens when your campaign is successful with cobbling together healthy margins among white working class voters, a voter bloc that new Democrats have denigrated the past few cycles. Our system values and rewards geographic diversity, and Bill Clinton dominated by taking on issues typically championed by conservatives: the welfare reform package is a prime example. 

If Democrats quit trying to scrap by with the college faculty crowd and get back to talking sense on the economy, crime, health care, and immigration, the GOP could be in some trouble. With Trump on the ballot, I’m not so sure, but Trump voters have and will vote for Democrats if the messaging is right. Lucky for us, the current liberal consensus is to be as stark-raving mad as possible on even the little things, but the path remains there for them. It also shows how insane the Democrats have become over the past 20 or so years. You could argue that maybe Barack Obama would have a more difficult time running in today’s Democratic Party.