How will a Hillary Presidency be different than/ the same as Bill's?

Great Debates
1

I am still probably months away from settling on a candidate, but I am watching relatively closely, and I was wondering about this question.

I have heard some supporting/opposing Hillary Clinton using the logic that it will be a return to the days of her husband’s presidency. How valid is this idea?

I realize that there will be differences, just as there would be differences if Bill Clinton could be reelected. The situations & challenges would be different and probably few of the Cabinet officials would return. So I guess my question is more along the lines of “How is Hillary’s mindset the same as or different from her husbands and how will that manifest in a Hillary Clinton administration?”

Discuss and enlighten.

2

No more hitting on starstruck interns.

3

You can review her political positions here.

4

More nuance, I think. More multitasking, multiple fronts. More negotiation.

I think it’ll be scandal-ridden (though deservedly or not) like Bill’s was, although I’m planning on voting for her (because the alternative is just too ridiculous).

Overall, I think more complexity. That’s good and bad, depending on each scenario.

5

First of all, don’t you mean: How would a Hillary…

She’s not nearly as smart as Bill and while he was a brilliant public speaker, she sounds just a bit better than scratching nails on a blackboard. I bet the Reps will spend major bucks on making sure that the voters hear lots of clips of her speaking. The fake Southern accent, the cackling laugh, the bitter responses to reporters’ questions. Even the run of the mill written speeches.

I doubt that she’d be as lucky as he was with regard to the economic cycle. He came in at the end of a recession, rode through the Internet boom and got out before the next recession, although the stock market crash did happen on his watch. In fact it wouldn’t be surprising if the boom that started during GWB’s first term ended right around January, 2009 and she could get all the blame for it. And she would deserve it if she persists in supporting tax increases.

And that suggests that it might be a one term presidency.

Also she would have to deal with Islamofascists where he was able to get away with a little wishful thinking, a few scud missiles, etc.

Right-wing talk radio would be about 100x funnier than it is right now.

Most important, we would survive. We survived Carter, we could survive anything.

6

She’s used that twice.

:rolleyes: High time we purged that fatuous phrase from political discourse.

7

Bill was saddled with a Republican congress. He was forced to become The Great Compromiser. All he could hope to do was modify the GOP agenda and claim it as his own. He did a passable job of maintaining his dignity, under the circumstances. Hillary, if she’s elected, will probably have a Democratic majority, and things will be different. Better? Maybe, maybe not.

8

That would be different! There is little difference between Bill and Hillary politically. She is maybe five degrees to his left. But the first Clinton Administration had to work, most years, with a Congress whose political center-of-gravity was to its right. The second Clinton Administration will have to work with a Congress whose political center-of-gravity is to its left. Interesting indeed! :slight_smile:

9

Yes, because conducting a war completely on deficit spending makes Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes join hands and do the Myposian Dance of Joy.

“Taxes! BOO!”

10

With all the bad economic news lately - weak home sales, credit problems and so on - I’m not sure how any ‘boom’ is going to last another 14 or 15 months only to collapse as soon as Hillary takes office.

11

If Hillary is elected, she’ll likely have a more cooperative congress than Bill did for most of his term. I’m not sure exactly what that will mean, but I don’t think we can expect any major governmental overhauls or anything like that.

12

How about we purge the islamofacists instead…

:rolleyes:

13

Find a couple and we will. There is no such thing. The government the Islamic extremists have in mind is far from fascism. The word actually has a meaning, you know? It’s not like you can just assign whatever definition you want to assign to it. Unless your name is Humpty Dumpty, of course.

14

There’s no such thing as ‘Islamofascists’.

It’s just a sneaky neo-con neologism to trick you into thinking the 9/11 bombers and Saddam Hussein are in some way connected.

edit: Spanked by jayjay.

15

It’s hilarious how Hillary gets slammed for the idea of raising taxes, but Bush 1’s no-new-taxes mantra gets him elected and he gets a pass when he taxes.

Here’s how I’d script it if it were a movie, and I were a Hollywood scriptwriter, and if I weren’t on strike. Hillary goes to a magic show and is put into a deep state of relaxation, but the magician dies before she is brought out. It turns out to be permanent (yes, I know that’s not how hypnotism works, just go with me on this…)

Bill discovers her late at night, drinking, smoking, and gambling and throws a fit! Doesn’t she realize she’s in the middle of a presidential bid? But with a new energy, a fresh smile, and a knowing twinkle in her eye, she goes on a tear in the polls. Bill is left to take up the slack and do a lot more work behind the scenes and is looking haggard. Meanwhile, Hillary puts on shades and rocks some bass guitar on Conan. It turns into a landslide victory.

Once she’s in, Bill notices more and more fit male interns around the White House. His own advancing age, decreased sex drive, and all the jokes about him being the First Laddie makes him more focused on work, although you wouldn’t know it from all the late night shenanigans going on at the White House.

By midterms, the budget is balanced, bin Laden is captured, and we’re out of both Iraq and Afghanistan. Hillary is re-elected, but there is growing whispers about Hillary’s after hours activities. Hillary takes multiple trips to Jamaica, getting her groove on.

Finally, the uptights in Congress can stand it no longer. Hearings are convened, where it is discovered that Hillary had multiple sordid affairs with a strapping young intern and she is impeached. Her term ends under a cloud of scandal, but she is too relaxed to care. Her VP loses in a tight race where the electoral college trumps the popular vote.

But to answer the OP, it was a bass guitar instead of a saxophone.

16

Oceania is at war with Eastasia. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.

Regards,
Shodan

17

The irony! It burnnns!

18

I thought it was a sneaky term meant to suggest that the War on Terror = World War II 2.

Anyway, I think of Hillary Clinton as a more studious but less naturally skilled politician than Bill, and I think she’s more of a moderate.

19

Similar:

Bombings.
Humanitarian missions which end up with lots of dead people.
Extraordinary rendition.
Torture.
Spreading freedom and democracy.
Nation building.
Pretending to care about various liberal causes (e.g. global warming, health care, the environment, economic disparity).
A mostly intelligent and competent running of the imperium which the establishment can nod approvingly of

Differences:

Won’t back down, will show how tough she is, whether it’s Congress, some pissant reporter, or Iran.
May take different ideas than Bill from the right which are in vogue at the time (e.g. things like abstinence only education, faith based organizations, prayer in school, whatever ticky tack issue she thinks she can borrow for her reelection basically).
Will take a harder position on certain domestic issues (e.g. violence in video games and movies, drugs, sex offenders, a particularly corrupt company here or there, whatever she can grab onto really).
Pantsuits.

She can rah! rah! with the best of 'em.