Morris versus Clinton

Dick Morris with Eileen McGann. Rewriting History. New York: HarperCollins, 2004. $24.95 (hb), 304pp

What follows is a book review of a book review. Granted, the original review is on the longish side, but it is what it is. Having ventured where few have ever bothered to go, Dick Morris has accomplished the nearly impossible task of actually reading Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Living History from beginning to end. Bothered by his discoveries, Morris has been moved to write Rewriting History.
One questions remains. Who is doing the rewriting here? Is it Hillary or Dick—or both? Is Dick telling us that Hillary tried to rewrite her own history and that of the administration of which she was a part—or should that be “in which she served”—or . . . Well, what was it that she actually did do—or accomplish—during those eight long years? Or is Dick rewriting her history, including the history of the would-be governor, who became a sitting governor, who became an ex-governor, who became a re-sitting governor, who became a presidential candidate, who became the president for whom he . . . Well, what exactly was it that Dick Morris did do for Bill Clinton before and during the better part of those eight long years?

See Dick run—pretty much whenever Hillary’s husband beckoned. See Dick count—numbers, oh so many polling numbers on oh, so many topics (some of which actually had something to do with public policy matters). See Dick run again—especially when it was time to run away from Hillary’s husband, who didn’t always care for Dick’s rendering of those numbers.

See Dick take a pummeling from that same husband—at least on the one occasion when he apparently couldn’t run away fast enough. And, of course, see Dick triangulate all over the place, whether or not it was time to run toward or away from his sometimes volatile client. Now see Dick rewrite recent history, all in the name of providing what amounts to an instant revisionist history of an instant revisionist history.

Finally, see Dick warn us of an impending “perfect storm.” Predictor of political weather patterns that he claims to be, Dick thinks that such a storm might hit as soon as 2008. Or it might be delayed until no later than 2012. But it will hit. And it will hit with such force that the result of Hurricane Hillary will be the presidency of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

How could this be? Morris points to the “confluence” of the following: 1) the “public relations triumph” of her book; 2) her “safe perch” in the Senate; 3) the “dearth” of Democratic rivals (presuming a Kerry defeat in November); 4) no Bush heir (save “yet another Bush”); 5) the country’s “growing minority population.”

Hmmm . . . Morris would have us believe that 1) the country will forget the Clinton scandals and yet remember the Clinton’s by then five or nine year old book; 2) her senate seat is Giuliani-proof; 3) no credible national candidate will surface in either major party; 4) the minority vote, both Hispanic and black, will be a lock for Democrats now and forever more.

But let’s pretend for a minute. Let’s pretend that Dick is right, that his “perfect storm will hit and Hillary will run and win. Does the prospect of a second Clinton presidency trouble him? Not necessarily. It all depends upon the next Hillary incarnation, assuming that such a reincarnation is possible. Will she become the second coming of Richard Nixon or will she discover her better self and become another Robert Kennedy? In sum, “will she (ugh) grow?”

Like RN and RFK, HRC has her, shall we say, dark side. Like Nixon, she has “proven susceptible to temptation, paranoia, and scandal.” Like Nixon, she has “allowed her fierce political instincts to darken her perspective.” Like Nixon, she has “contrived a deceivingly positive public face behind which to hide.” And which public Nixon face was that? Such was his fate and physiognomy that he could never really hide the face that was uniquely his.

And then there is the equally dark Robert Kennedy who, in Dick Morris’ kind and cuddly estimation, managed to transform himself into a “very good person.” Which is to say Kennedy shed his Joe McCarthy past, spurned the war in Vietnam, made an enemy of a not to very good person by the name of Lyndon Johnson, and shifted leftward on any number of domestic issues. He also had a face, public or otherwise, that both RN and HRC would kill for.

Nixon or Kennedy? The choice is Hillary’s. She is already older than Nixon was in 1968. She is now fourteen years older than Kennedy was when he died. But Dick is still prepared to give her the benefit of nearly 265 pages of his doubts. There remains a “chance” for her to “become the person she can still become.” Huh??

But what if her behavior as president is as Nixonian as her Nixonian behavior as First Lady of Arkansas and of the country? Well then, her “supporters and critics” will have “much to fear,” won’t they? “Supporters and critics?” That’s just about everybody, isn’t it Dick? So why not say it, Dick? Why not just say that the country will have much to fear?

Perhaps the answer is that Dick Morris can’t quite shake his Clinton addiction. Pummeled and otherwise abused, Morris appears ready for more. After all, he concludes, “our current political landscape badly needs Hillary’s perspective, her passionate idealism.” She may be a “flawed instrument,” but her “willingness to fight for the underdog and her compass for issues are rare indeed in our male-dominated, profit-obsessed society.” And this after Morris has invested a chapter in exposing her own profit obsessions.

The bulk of this extended book review is a chapter-by-chapter unpackaging of the well-packaged to the point of being hidden Hillary. By Morris’ not-so-kind estimation, her memoir ought to have been titled “Hiding Hillary.” With that as his mantra, Morris unmasks the Hillary behind the brand name that is “HILLARY.” If the Hillary behind the HILLARY is determined to hide—and perhaps even deny—her real self, Dick has arrived, maybe even in the nick of time, to pull back the curtain to reveal the “brittle” politician, the driven ideologue, the profit-obsessed “material girl,” the ungrand “inquisitor” that she is. And while no single chapter is devoted to her ongoing difficulties with the truth, whether on matters small or not to small, Morris is clearly troubled by her near-compulsive aversion to the telling of it.

And yet Dick Morris can’t escape the pull of the Clinton orbit. Maybe it’s her concern for “women and children.” Ah, the women and children. Dick keeps coming back to both of them, because Hillary can’t seem to stop trying to do something, anything for them. If there is to be a second Clinton or first Rodham presidency, the campaign war room mantra will no doubt be “it’s the women and children, stupid.” Or “ask not what they can do for our country, but what our government can do for them.”

But never fear, there will never be a second Clinton or first Rodham administration. Oh, there may well be a “perfect” political “storm.” Hillary or HILLARY may well be the Democratic nominee in 2008 or 2012, but she will not win. And the reason for this confident prediction is to be found right in the middle of this book (review). Having observed Hillary at close range for many years, Dick detects a “brittle quality” to her. When adversity strikes, Bill shows up for work each morning “hoping things will improve.” Hillary, however, has “less flexibility, less give.”

Morris does not deny that HRC is a woman with sound political instincts and considerable political talent. But he offers this insight by way of continuing the contrast between the two Clintons: “Unlike Bill, Hillary is deeply committed to an ideological agenda,” an agenda, by the way, that is deeply connected to the, surprise, surprise, “needs of women and children.” And unlike HILLARY, Hillary is an “opportunist when she needs to be, and an ideologue whenever she can. An opportunist by necessity but an ideologue by choice.” Could something of a similar nature ever be said with accuracy about Richard Nixon or Robert Kennedy? That Nixon was never an ideologue made a Nixon presidency possible. That Kennedy was never an ideologue might have made a Kennedy presidency possible.

And yet it took an incredibly perfect storm for Richard Nixon to squeak to victory in 1968. There had to be a disastrous war, deep divisions within the Democratic party, a not so very good person as president, and the assassination of a Kennedy who was apparently well on his to becoming a very good person. Who could have predicted all of that in 1964? Not Dick Morris. Not nobody no how.

Hillary’s best chance to get anywhere near the White House again might be to find herself another Bill. Her real political skills are those of a combined campaign manager, political tactician, and chief of staff. In many respects, she was to Bill what RFK was to JFK.

Dick Morris spends nearly all of this longish review telling us, in effect, that he knows Bill Clinton and that Hillary Rodham Clinton is no Bill Clinton. And yet he can’t resist dreaming of another series of runs to and from the Clintons. Having witnessed and survived any number of perfectly stormy Clinton scenes, and having detailed any number of reasons that a second Clinton presidency would be as disastrous as the first, he writes and rewrites and waits for one more call.