How Liberal was Bill Clinton?

[Quixote1818]

Poll question: How Liberal was Bill Clinton?

Just curious where DUers come down on his policies.

[rodeodance]

1. Who cares!

[Quixote1818]

2. Obviously you do or you wouldn't be posting here and checking it out. nt

[Ian David]

3. He was a Conservative Democrat. He got caught sleeping with a woman.

If he were a Conservative Republican, he would have been caught cruising the mens' room.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

4. To the left on most social issues, conservative on many economic ones

Which is not to say that he was conservative like the Club for Growthers but he was no socialist either. He was judged to be to the right of Richard Nixon on the economy.

[Quixote1818]

6. Thats a pretty good assessment. nt

[hfojvt]

15. agreed, but Nixon had to deal with strong unions and a Democratic Congress

Ah, the good old days.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. "Free" Trade, Outsourced Torture, Super-Low Taxes On The Rich...

He did raise taxes on the Rich a little. But then he apologized for it.

[bunnies]

7. Conservative Dem

And per Alan Greenspan "the best Republican President we've had in a while".

[Hart2008]

8. Trick question. Economically or Culturally?

Clinton is liberal on social issues like abortion and gun control, but rather conservative on the issue of controlling corporate greed.

People are still judging Clinton in comparison to the Bush bookends that surrounded him.

He certainly was less liberal than Kerry, Mondale, Dukakis, or even for that matter, Gary Hart.

None of these candidates ever hired Republican consultants like the Clinton's have, e.g., David Gergen, Dick Morris and Mark Penn.

Bill Clinton made "Republican Lite" his personal brand name.
:puke:

[MessiahRp]

19. And even on social issues, he was horrible with gay issues...

DOMA, Don't Ask, Don't Tell...

Of course he showed that he cared more about political opportunism than principles when he tried to tell Kerry to come out against Gay Marriage to win the 2004 election even though he didn't agree with it.

The sex scandal is really low on my totem pole of reasons why I dislike Bill.

Include NAFTA, Welfare Reform and Media Consolidation to the list above and no thanks to another Clinton Administration. It was nothing more than an extension of Reagan-Bush I. This line of thinking has now had 30 years in office. We need to end this run now.

Rp

[Hart2008]

21. He was an opportunist. He executed a retarded man in the middle of the '92 campaign...

Went back to Arkansas to make a big show of how he was pro-death penalty.

The Supreme Court has since ruled that executing these people is unconstitutional.

Has anyone ever asked Hillary what she did to stop him from ordering that man's death?

[maximusveritas]

9. He's a DLC centrist

I suspect Hillary, who's also DLC and promising a "centrist" coalition, will be the same.

[jgraz]

18. Which translates to a corporate right-winger

It's sad how our political compass has been perverted since Raygun. In truth, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel are centrists.

[maximusveritas]

20. I don't know about that

Centrist means someone trying to find the center or middle ground of political opinion, which tends to put them far on the conservative side of most issues.

Kucinich and Gravel are not "centrist" by this definition. I think "moderate" would be the better term.

[Selatius]

22. Kucinich doesn't seem "moderate" by American standards. He's far left in American parlance.

Most folks don't seem to take kindly or are unsure about Kucinich's proposal of government health insurance in the form of single-payer health care.

[maximusveritas]

23. Yes, by current American standards

But by global or historical standards, he's a moderate.

[jgraz]

24. Exactly what "folks" are you referring to?

Most polls show overwhelming support for single payer. You even get a majority if you ask people if they're willing to tolerate a tax hike for single payer.

[Selatius]

27. No, I saw those polls. Most folks support universal health care, not single-payer health care.

True single-payer health care is supported by like 40 percent the last time I looked at those polls. Requiring everybody to purchase private health insurance with subsidies for poor people is not single-payer.

[jgraz]

28. Y'know, you'd almost think Google didn't exist.

http://blog.sustainablemiddleclass.com/?p=143

55% Support SINGLE PAYER health care.

There are many more where that came from.

[Selatius]

29. Pardon me for using polls older than 6 months.

I concede that in light of that Kucinich is a moderate, but as you are obviously aware, there's an institutional drag between what the people's views are and what the establishment's views are in terms of economic policy.

Also, give me the reference terms you used in google. Did you use google news or simply the regular portal?

[jgraz]

31. I won't pardon you, but I'm considering commuting your sentence.

:P

[jgraz]

25. Point taken. They are moderates.

I tend to use those words interchangeably, but I shouldn't.

[Selatius]

10. Neoliberal, favoring NAFTA, media deregulation (Telecom Act 1996), foreign adventurism, and...

welfare reform (replacing Aid to Families with Dependent Children with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families). Maximum lifetime benefits under TANF are now limited to a maximum of 60 months only.

On economic issues, he's right wing.

[hfojvt]

11. it depends on what the definition of 'liberal' is

:P

Siriusly though, Bill Clinton was a split. On social issues, or identity politics, he was very liberal. That's what the conservatives saw and what made them so angry. On economic issues, or working class issues, or anti-corporatism, he was very conservative.

That defies the whole "What's the matter with Kansas" analysis which says that middle income Republicans are voting against their economic interests by voting against Democrats. Under Clinton (DLC) 'leadership', Democrats don't really work for the working class interests. DLC vs. Republican is not a choice between working class party and business class party. It's a choice between a socially liberal corporate party and a socially conservative corporate party.

[Hart2008]

16. It's a choice between a socially liberal corporate party and a socially conservative corporate party

Exactly!

Very well said!

:yourock:

[DiamondJay]

12. as liberal as he could politically be in the 90's

off the heals of the Reagan Revolution, with a DINO party his only thing closest to his support. he had to end welfare as we knew to make it a second chance, not a way of life, and he had to do so to save the party. He could not get health care because of the big industry commercials and the strengthened GOP after Reagan and Bush 3 successive huge landslides.

[Leopolds Ghost]

26. I didn't know welfare was a way of life. Who says he had to end it?

Welfare cadillacs and steak dinners?

[DiamondJay]

32. the american voters said so

there really WERE people who used welfare as a free ride as there are people who go to the hospital today to get healthcare with no insurance. and some did drive pink cadillacs. solving that problem was not liberal or conservative, it was american. many people on welfare did cheat the system, and he ended the stigma against the party in that sense that existed since nixon racially polarized peeps against the democratic party

[OzarkDem]

13. He was a great president

who accomplished more than any Dem since FDR to turn the country around.

Obama is definitely not the same caliber.

[high density]

30. What??!? How can you say that about Obama before he has even had a chance?

That's ridiculous! It's like going back to 1992 and saying that Bill Clinton can't amount to anything because he's only been Governor of Arkansas!

Another question, why do you spend so much time on this forum taking shits on Obama?

[tokenlib]

14. Political Opportunist??

Depended on the wind in a few circumstances...

[H2O Man]

17. He was a conservative democrat,

and much of what he did was what was needed at the time. He gets high marks as a president, in my book.

[newmajority]

33. Best Republican President of our lifetime

Better than Reagan, Nixon, or either Bush, but certainly no JFK or FDR.

[DumpDavisHogg]

34. He supported that school uniform shit

That makes him conservative just by litmus.

I will not vote for anyone known to support public school uniforms, period.

[Robbins]

35. Clinton

The Clintons are not Liberals desperate what some In the media would have us believe.They are centists.Gore,and Dean were true Moderates.Kerry Is a true Liberal(Kerry opposses using the death
Penality except In cases of Terrorists.And Kerry Is a former Prosucater)While the Media will call Obama the most Liberal Senator I call him a Moderate but closer to the left Center than the Clintons.Dukasis was really a Moderate but was very Liberal on some social Issues.If the media hadn't caught gary Hart he probally would have won the nomination In 1988(and possibly keep Bush Senior out of the white House)Even Michael Moore has called Nixon more of a Liberal than Clinton(or Carter who was really a moderate)

There Is a big difference between Moderates and Centists.

[marcellobarrios]

36. Whatever he was, it was DAMNED GOOD for the economy n/t