Sean Wilentz: Says he favors Hillary Clinton for president
[Q.] So why Hillary?
[Wilentz:] I think Hillary is important because the election really is the culmination of what's been a 40 year struggle for the Democrats to rediscover who they are. A 40-year struggle against what we'll call Nixon-slash-Reaganism. And, simply put, she's in the best position to be a president. Which is to say, she understands how American politics works. She understands the trajectory of American political history for the last 40 years because she's lived it in a way that the others haven't, really. She's seen it at all levels, from Arkansas to Capitol Hill. The country needs someone who can take us beyond this struggle--this long, long fight we've been having.
You seem to be saying that only Hillary can take us beyond Baby Boomer politics because only she's lived through it. But Obama's argument is that he represents a post-Baby Boomer politics, and that he's not bogged down, like Hillary, in those old conflicts.
I think the whole idea of Baby Boomer politics is the problem. That concept. I'm very disappointed in that. There's no such thing. You cannot enter this moment and make a new departure unless you understand what you're departing from. And that's what she understands. She's not proposing some sort of vaporous, virtuous new thing that she's going to conjure out of thin air. American political life doesn't work that way. She's not going to go "presto, change-o, everything's different." We all know that's fantasy.
[Q.] So you don't find Obama's meta-arguments against "politics as usual" particularly convincing?
[Wilentz:] You cannot have a president who doesn't like politics. You will not get anything done. Period. I happen to love American politics. I think American politics is wonderful. I can understand why people don't. But one of the problems in America is that politics has been so soured, people try to be above it all. It's like Adlai Stevenson. In some ways, Barack reminds me of Stevenson.
[Q.] Why?
[Wilentz:] There's always a Stevenson candidate. Bradley was one of them. Tsongas was one of them. They're the people who are kind of ambivalent about power. "Should I be in this or not... well, yes, because I'm going to represent something new." It's beautiful loserdom. The fact is, you can't govern without politics. That's what democracy is. Democracy isn't some utopian proposition by which the people suddenly rule. We're too complicated a country for that. We have too many interests here. You need someone who can govern, who can build the coalition and move the country forward. You hit on something that's really my pet peeve about the others. Edwards the same way, except he doesn't condemn the politics of the '60s, rather he talks about the special interests...
[Q.] A populist slant.
[Wilentz:] Oy vey. Let's be real here about how American politics works. It's a posture. It makes people feel good, but it's not reality. They should be part of the party. The party is complicated, like a weird bird with so many wings it sometimes doesn't know how to fly. But I don't think any one of them can lead the way she can....
Read entire article at Andrew Romano at Newsweek blog
[Wilentz:] I think Hillary is important because the election really is the culmination of what's been a 40 year struggle for the Democrats to rediscover who they are. A 40-year struggle against what we'll call Nixon-slash-Reaganism. And, simply put, she's in the best position to be a president. Which is to say, she understands how American politics works. She understands the trajectory of American political history for the last 40 years because she's lived it in a way that the others haven't, really. She's seen it at all levels, from Arkansas to Capitol Hill. The country needs someone who can take us beyond this struggle--this long, long fight we've been having.
You seem to be saying that only Hillary can take us beyond Baby Boomer politics because only she's lived through it. But Obama's argument is that he represents a post-Baby Boomer politics, and that he's not bogged down, like Hillary, in those old conflicts.
I think the whole idea of Baby Boomer politics is the problem. That concept. I'm very disappointed in that. There's no such thing. You cannot enter this moment and make a new departure unless you understand what you're departing from. And that's what she understands. She's not proposing some sort of vaporous, virtuous new thing that she's going to conjure out of thin air. American political life doesn't work that way. She's not going to go "presto, change-o, everything's different." We all know that's fantasy.
[Q.] So you don't find Obama's meta-arguments against "politics as usual" particularly convincing?
[Wilentz:] You cannot have a president who doesn't like politics. You will not get anything done. Period. I happen to love American politics. I think American politics is wonderful. I can understand why people don't. But one of the problems in America is that politics has been so soured, people try to be above it all. It's like Adlai Stevenson. In some ways, Barack reminds me of Stevenson.
[Q.] Why?
[Wilentz:] There's always a Stevenson candidate. Bradley was one of them. Tsongas was one of them. They're the people who are kind of ambivalent about power. "Should I be in this or not... well, yes, because I'm going to represent something new." It's beautiful loserdom. The fact is, you can't govern without politics. That's what democracy is. Democracy isn't some utopian proposition by which the people suddenly rule. We're too complicated a country for that. We have too many interests here. You need someone who can govern, who can build the coalition and move the country forward. You hit on something that's really my pet peeve about the others. Edwards the same way, except he doesn't condemn the politics of the '60s, rather he talks about the special interests...
[Q.] A populist slant.
[Wilentz:] Oy vey. Let's be real here about how American politics works. It's a posture. It makes people feel good, but it's not reality. They should be part of the party. The party is complicated, like a weird bird with so many wings it sometimes doesn't know how to fly. But I don't think any one of them can lead the way she can....