American politics is in a rut.
Voters have an opportunity to end the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton era and start fresh this November. (Actually, Pennsylvania voters could put a final nail in Hillary Clinton's political coffin on April 22. If she loses the Pennsylvania primary, she's done.)
An interesting letter to the editor published in The Philadelphia Inquirer examines the prospects of a return of the Clintons to the White House. I agree with 99 percent of what the letter-writer has to say.
No Clinton dynasty
The 22d Amendment, which limits a president to two elected terms, passed because people worried that unlimited terms might result in a de facto dictatorship. Few in 1951 anticipated the candidacy of a former first lady. Among the many reasons I oppose the election of Hillary Clinton is the prospect of a "Clinton Restoration," a dynastic succession that returns to power the retainers and foot soldiers of a previous administration, infused with a psychological and political need to defend that administration's "legacy." What kind of fresh start could we expect?
The reactions of Bill Clinton and James Carville to Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama have been noted, but the darker implications have not. How, exactly, does loyalty to a former president translate into an obligation to support his wife? If that is what the Clinton camp expects, then we are looking at an administration in embryo that is already behaving like a dynasty. The Bush dynasty has been more than enough.
Bruce Schwartz
Cherry Hill
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