There were a lot more Dems in office before Bill Clinton came along!

[trumad]

This is not an attack on one of the greatest Presidents since Kennedy, but it is an attack on something Joe Lieberman said today.

<snip>
"I was surprised he would support a candidate that I am convinced will take this party back to where we were before Bill Clinton," he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50396-2003Dec9.html

Me-thinks that the party before BC was much stonger than it is today....After all it was during Bills tenure that we lost the House.

[neuvocat]

1. It was Gingrich that got Clinton re-elected.

[redqueen]

2. Yep

Morphing slowly into a lesser replica of the 'other' party seems to have that effect on voters... they stop voting for you.

:shrug:

[Old and In the Way]

3. Joe is part of the problem....

he wants to be just this side of the Republicans....sometimes that line is so close, it's hard to tell the difference.

[RBHam]

4. Given a choice

Between a fake Republican and a real Republican, the public will vote for a real one too.

[sandnsea]

5. Well that would be good

But since Howard never was that kind of Democrat, I don't know why Joe believes that he suddenly is now.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. There Was Also Was A Three Deacde Interregnum

between the election of Democrat, Grover Cleveland, and Democrat Woodrow Wilson and many historians say Grover Cleveland defied historical trends through sheer political skill to win office as a Democrat during a period of Republican ascendancy....

The coming elections will tell us if Bill Clinton was another Grover Cleveland....

[chaumont58]

7. So its your belief that the Dems lost the House and Senate because

of Bill Clinton?

Just curious.

[lastliberalintexas]

9. To an extent,

I believe so. Clinton made it verrry difficult to campaign for Dems- in the South at least. His personal issues (which I agree should not matter) combined with his stance on guns and Hillary as a lightning rod made 1994 a devastating year for us. Add to that, Clinton began changing our party into repub lite on key issues (labor and social services esp), pissed off too many activists, and galvanized the opposition.

I think Clinton did some very fine things while he was president. But he also made some huge mistakes- and they were mistakes that contributed to a semi-demise in our party.

[redqueen]

10. Just curious

Anyone have any figures on any drop in Dem voters during Clinton's terms?

How about a drop or gain for Greens?

[David Zephyr]

8. You Speak the Truth.

Regardless of the why's and wherefore's, what you said is the truth.

[CatWoman]

11. may the force be with you, Tru

[dolstein]

12. Sorry Trumad, your mind is playing tricks on you

The decline of the Democratic Party -- particularly in the South but also in the rural West -- had begun long before Clinton was elected president. Indeed, the Republicans took over the Senate after the 1980 due to a string of victories in the South and West -- including the defeat of liberal stalwarts like George McGovern and Frank Church. If it weren't for the Watergate scandal, which led to a huge Democratic landslide in 1974, the Republicans would likely have taken over the House by then as well.

The loss of the House in 1994 had far more to do with redistricting, the House banking scandal and kong-term trends in the South and rural West than it had to do with Bill Clinton.