Are the Clintons really a "dynasty"?

[mwb970]

There is this meme about that if Hillary wins we will see an America alternating between political dynasties for its leadership: Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton. Tucker just used the d-word on his show, for example.

But it seems to me that the Bush family is a true political dynasty (like the Kennedys), with Jeb and the Chimp in this generation, then Poppy, Prescott, etc., whereas the Clintons are just a married couple, not even blood related. How is that a "dynasty"?

[emulatorloo]

1. I agree w you. Hillary is Bill's wife, not his daughter -- this is just more noise EOM

[no_hypocrisy]

2. I'm not certain they should even be seen as a partnership.

Two different personalities, two different political philosophies despite a shared party, two sets of goals. A dynasty implies something that is being perpetuated. On the contrary, I see Hillary as inadvertently eroding Bill's legacy.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. You're right.

I wouldn't consider the Clinton's a dynasty. Now if Chelsea has political aspirations, althought there is nothing wrong with that, then the Clinton's may be considered a dynasty. I always wonder why repukes didn't mention this dynasty business when shrubnuts campaigned?

[DURHAM D]

4. No - it is just the usual garden variety female bashing.

Do you think for one moment if a woman had been President and then her equally qualified (or better qualified) husband wanted to run for the WH this dynasty crap would ever come up? Of course not.

I am amazed at the number of people who post on DU that see husband and wife as the same as multi-generations of Kennedys and Bushes. Its just Hillary bashing by fools who think they are clever.

[dos pelos]

5. They are a "wannabe" dynasty......

Thats why they experience so much abuse from the established old school power elite.They are grubbing new arrivals at the scene.They want to join the club.In Hillary's' case her ambition for this is very transparent and strong,and off putting.
The USA should be able to produce a more vibrant,more diverse offering for political leadership than the few political families we see all the time,Bush,Clinton,Kennedy.
The widening gap between have and have not,the concentration of wealth in the USA is mirrored in the phenomenon of the concentration of political power in fewer and fewer hands.We are forming an aristocracy.

[AllegroRondo]

6. no, but "dynasty" has a negative connotation

so the right uses it to describe Hillary. Notice that they never used it to describe the Bush family until AFTER the shrub was elected, and then only in context with the Clintons.

[GumboYaYa]

7. Yes it is a dynasty in the making.

It is a dynasty built on the ability to raise massive amounts of money.

What will be interesting is watching all the special interests groups line up behind Hillary to get some of that money and power regardless of whether she is the best candidate to represent their interests.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

8. "Dynasty" is a convenient shorthand, even though it's innaccurate.

I think one can say with a reasonable degree of confidence that neither George W. and Jeb Bush, nor Hillary Clinton, would have attained their present degrees of political seniority had they not been the children/wives of former presidents - the degree of coincidence that would imply is breathtaking.

[quinnox]

9. that's a good point

I think it is a tactic used by people who don't like Hillary to try and compare the Bush's which is a political dynasty with the Clintons.
But lets say the Clintons were a dynasty. Is that automatiacally bad? Of course not, there can be good and bad dynastys.

What about the Kennedys? They are a dynasty.

The "beware of another dynasty" is a bashing tactic that is quite simple minded IMHO.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

10. Dynasty?

That's a hoot. In relation to the ruling elites here in the USA the Clintons are trailer trash......

[mzteris]

11. No.

Just verbiage being used to bash Senator Clinton. Methinks its because she's a woman that the people saying it use this as an 'excuse'. Who knows? Maybe they even believe their own lies.

[formerrepuke]

12. Hardly a dynasty- Bill C. had *very* humble beginnings...relied on

nothing but his drive and intelligence to get where he did.