Presidential opinions

In The Clinton Formula, Michael Tomasky peppers former President Clinton with questions about the dems chances of winning back the White House in 2004. [via 0xDECAFBAD]

Mr. Clinton certainly sees many things that are wrong. I also think he may tend to oversimplify for convenience...

BC : And if you look at these tax cuts, they got a good return for their investment. I mean, people say, "Gosh, how did Bush raise $200 million, $300 million?" I say it's peanuts compared to the tax cuts he gave. It's not even a tithe, you know? Not even 1 percent!

It sounds nice. Certainly much of the Bush money does come from the very wealthy, but it also comes from all sorts of other places so this kind of statement is likely to end up causing a ruckus.

It was an interesting interview. I'd love to see one with George H. Bush, if someone would let him out of the dungeon.

He and Jimmy Carter were born within a few months of one another (both are 79 and seem quite healthy). We still see and hear from Carter quite often... he has an influence that the senior Bush doesn't because he's out in the public eye. Gerald Ford is 90, Ronald Reagan nearly 93. George the elder is all that's left if we want a "been there, done that, lived to tell about it" perspective from the conservative side (I believe we need it). The cloak and dagger sealing of Reagan's records just before they would have been opened to everyone makes it all but impossible for the senior Bush to take a public stand.

On the other hand, Clinton lived much of his administration (good and bad) in public view, because someone was always testifying somewhere. He doesn't have anything else to hide and he's going to be out there giving his spin on things for a long time to come (he and George W. are both 57).