I have been saying for a while that the scariest thing about Hillary winning is the aspect of having two presidents in power--Hillary and Bill. People have said, "oh but he would not be president, he would just be married to the president. They wont let him have power." Really? Here's the thing, we have never had a male "First Lady," and to have a male in that position that happens to be one of the most influential presidents of our time, and who continues to bask in a high level of popularity (while his successor has the lowest popularity ever). Bill won't have power as the "First Lady?" Come on.
I have to say that this thought didn't come to me in a moment of pure spontaneous revelation. I actually heard this notion first from the author of For the Love of Politics--Sally Bedell Smith. She was on the radio talking to Medved, and she, after much time and research devoted to getting to know the Clintons, explained that she believed that with these two it would be like having two presidents.
And now, finally, thanks to Bill's racist shenanigans, in their hurry to abandon the Clinton Titanic, democrats are uncovering this liable option. Before, it was utterly ignored, well maybe hoped for. Until today, when I was reading some of the digital rant rags-- low-and-behold Michael Tomasky of the Guardian puts into words what I have been putting into muttering.
Oh, and he quotes Garry Wills.
Think about it. A former president, who knows the inner workings of government intimately, would be back in the White House. He may have no official title or role. Yet he would, it's fair to assume, be deeply enmeshed in both politics and policy.
To what extent would this constitute a co-presidency? Writing in the New York Times on Saturday, Garry Wills noted that America's founders had wrestled with just this question and decided executive power had to be invested in one person for the sake of holding that person accountable. Wills - who has written glowingly about Hillary in the past - directly compared Bill's possible role to the one being played now by Dick Cheney and concluded that "it does not seem to be a good idea to put another co-president in the White House".
Its a weird, ultimately dangerous thing having Bill and Hillary running the nation. I just got the shivers thinking about it. I don't understand why more people haven't been woe crying about it.But then again, this is the election year of weirdness.
It makes me think about the position of Vice President. Who wants to be the third fiddle, or even third wheel, at the White House. On the other hand in the republican camp, the position of VP could be a much more prominent position. The way the primaries are shaping up, with no clear front runner, an alliance could really shift the momentum. Rudy might drop out after tomorrow, but if he comes in strong in Florida, if he and Huckabee join forces, they could rock Super Tuesday. The problem would be deciding who top dog is. Together they cover the gambit with Rudy strong on foreign policy and fiscal conservatism, and Huck the leader on social conservatism--they could run away with it. But who would be president in that case. I am just talking la la land here, but it could happen. This is a strange time in politics. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Rudy/Huck team-up, or even a McCain/Lieberman team-up--yikes that would be crazy.
I like it when it gets shook up like this, its good for our national politics. Not just business as usual.
We shall see...
(Image credit by Flickr user starrgazr)
