Clinton book doesn’t help Kerry
Bill Clinton’s book blitz might have helped John Kerry, D-Mass., portray President Bush as a radical ideologue. Instead, it seems to have focused attention only on Clinton’s psyche.
Clinton’s book, “My Life,” excoriates former Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr and right-wing Republicans, but Clinton barely tries — as he might have — to link Bush to that movement for Kerry’s benefit.
In interviews he’s conducted to sell the book, Clinton has characterized Bush’s Iraq policy as “ideological,” but hasn’t pressed home Kerry’s point that Bush has isolated America from its former allies.
In a recent teleconference with reporters, Kerry campaign pollster Mark Mellman said that Clinton’s book tour might serve to remind Americans of “how a successful economic strategy produced unprecedented growth and see how George Bush fails in comparison.” But that’s not a point that Clinton himself is making.
So far, most reviews have panned the book much as The New York Times did — as “a mirror of Clinton’s presidency: lack of discipline leading to squandered opportunities; high expectations undermined by self indulgence and scattered concentration.”
One of the main themes of the book itself is that Clinton’s childhood led him to lead “parallel lives” — one, purposeful and idealistic and the other, self-destructive, hidden from view and beset by “demons.”
In the end, my guess is that Clinton’s book and the hoopla surrounding it will have little lasting impact on this year’s presidential campaign — much the same as the impact of former President Ronald Reagan’s funeral.
Polls indicate that the public, inundated as it is with bad news about the enterprise, is increasingly dubious about the value of going to war with Iraq.
A new Washington Post-ABC poll showed that only 45 percent of registered voters approve of Bush’s handling of Iraq, down from 60 percent in February. Seventy-six percent said the war had damaged America’s image abroad, while only 51 percent now think it has enhanced U.S. security, as opposed to 62 percent last July.
The Kerry camp cited the ABC poll, showing Kerry leading Bush by 48 percent to 42 percent in a two-way matchup and a National Public Radio poll showing that in battleground states, Kerry leads by 53 percent to 44 percent.
But, according to Bush aides, the weekly average of all major public polls shows renewed movement in Bush’s direction. Bush fell from an average 2.4 lead in late April to a 2.3 deficit in mid-May, owing largely to bad Iraq news.
With progress in creating a new government in Iraq and the release of stronger economic figures, Bush aides say, the president moved to an average 1.8 percent lead in five polls conducted June 7-14.
Bush has consistently led Kerry on the terrorism issue — by 15 points in the latest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll — but that lead is down from margins of 30 points earlier this year. Other polls have shown the public views the two candidates as equally honest.
The bottom line seems to be that the two candidates are heading into July essentially tied, with Bush’s approval ratings hovering just below the all-important 50 percent line and with the outcome likely to hinge on real-world events, which won’t include Clinton’s book.
Morton Kondracke is executive editor of Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill.