An Open Letter to Bill and Hillary From a Friend

Dear President Clinton and Senator Clinton:

Hi. My name is Mark Greenbaum. Perhaps you have heard of me. I run a young, but up-and-coming political blog which offers some of the sharpest political analysis available on the web. I have written extensively on the presidential race, so perhaps you know that I was a strong and fervent supporter of Senator Clinton during her run for the presidency over the last year. I also think you did a fabulous job as leader of this country over eight years, President Clinton, and I have little doubt that if there was no Twenty-Second Amendment, you would probably still be President.

I wanted to shoot you both a note on the state of the presidential race going forward. Like a lot of your other supporters Senator Clinton, I took your loss very hard. I was upset about the primary for some time, and for many weeks afterward, I was not even fully sure if I would be able to come onto the Team Obama train. In the end, however, I was able to get past my disappointment and decide to support Senator Obama because of my belief that he would be head-and-shoulders better than Senator McCain on just about every possible consideration. And also because I am a loyal Democrat.

If Senator Clinton's loss was tough for me, a lowly supporter, I can only imagine how difficult it was for both of you. I know you both poured every ounce of yourselves into the campaign, a nasty, vicious, brutal race, only to fall just short of victory after so many ups and downs.

Despite all of your still-raw feelings, you both need to drop the bitterness, the disappointment, and the dislike of Senator Obama, and get on board fully and without reservation. While both of your convention speeches seemed to indicate that you were behind the Democratic ticket, actions speak louder than words. Democrats and Obama need to see you on the campaign trail immediately and often until the end of the campaign in less than two months.

Bill: I understand why you are still so unhappy. As you said during the campaign, you felt criticisms of you and the accomplishments of your administration were unfair and overly-nasty. You may have a point. Senator Obama and his campaign may have gone too far in blasting you in order to help bring down Senator Clinton. Still, you need to move past all of that.

You of all people know what it takes to run a ruthlessly efficient campaign. Just ask the old hands, the late Senator Paul Tsongas and former Governor Jerry Brown, the two men you walked all over in order to successfully come back and win the 1992 Democratic presidential primary. You trashed and savaged two distinguished government servants to take the presidency in 1992. C'est la vie. That's part of the game, Mr. President! You got slimed. It was cruel, and probably even unnecessary. Nevertheless, you need to get over it.

Hillary: I understand exactly what you are thinking. You still want to be President. Obviously. You are bitter at losing to an arrogant senator who took office in 2005 and took from you what you had been planning to win for your entire life. Losing the primary, and your life's ambition was devastating. I get that.

Plus, to add insult to injury, you were never even considered to be Senator Obama's running mate from day one. Obama and David Axelrod likely scoffed at this idea behind closed doors, and did not even pretend to entertain the prospect of having an Obama-Clinton "dream ticket." This certainly added insult to injury to both you, President Clinton, and your inner circle. Not only were Obama's actions here needlessly petty, as I wrote here, they were also not terribly strategic. I have little doubt that an Obama-Clinton ticket would have been the best combo, it would have blocked Team McCain from springing its diabolically brilliant Palin surprise, and it would have almost certainly elected Obama. But that's in the past, and you both, as Democrats, need to be forward-looking now.

Now, things have changed in a way almost no one ever thought possible (except of course, your's truly): John McCain tapped Sarah Palin as his running mate, and now Senator Obama could really use your help. In a delicious turn of events from your perspective, with a woman on the GOP ticket, the other side is now energized, and Team Obama is in the position of needing your help. As a result you hold all the cards. I know a big part of you wants to give the appearance of helping Obama, but just enough so that if Obama-Biden loses, no can question your efforts, all the while secretly hoping he loses so you can get another crack at the White House in 2012. And you know what? I don't blame you for feeling or thinking any of these things!

Nevertheless, this is a short-sighted, selfish, and awful way to look at things. Is such pettiness going to do anything but cut off your nose to spite your face? If John McCain wins, you can be assured that you will find just about all of his active policies just as objectionable as the current President Bush's.

For example, I have little doubt, that you would hate to see Supreme Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- both likely retirements in the coming years -- replaced by young arch-conservatives like J. Michael Luttig and Brett Kavanaugh, men who could serve on the court for over 30 years. What about McCain's likely continuation of America's broad commitment to the Iraq war, continuation and extension of the Bush tax cuts, his likely anti-environment, one-sided pro-business, and foolish energy policies all of which are likely under a McCain presidency? Finally, the mere prospect of McCain taking office, and then possibly having to relinquish it and give way to the dangerously unqualified Palin has to give you chills.

While I am at it, let me say a word about your misguided 2012 ambitions. Senator Clinton, even if Obama loses this November, assuming that you will be in good shape to be the nominee in 2012 is foolish. Who knows what the future will hold? For all you know, the economy could drastically improve in the next few years, making McCain a re-election shoo-in. Or, if Democrats become very sick of the Clinton brand, you could be overtaken -- again -- by an upstart like (then-outgoing) Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Virginia Senator Mark Warner, or some other now-unheralded Democratic leader. Sure, even though Obama won't be in your way in 2012, your successful pursuit of the White House would not be a guarantee, and you need to remember that.

In sum, both of you need, in the words of House Minority Leader John Boehner (when he was excoriating his colleagues for not donating to races in the wake of the disasterous MS-01 special election this May) to get off of your dead assess.

You are both needed on the front-lines of this campaign. There are basically no American leaders alive today who command both the respect and credibility, and have the rock star qualities that each of you possess. The campaign is now tied, or at worst, Senator Obama is dowb, and McCain-Palin has all of the momentum. If President Bush tore down many of the accomplishments that you believe were enacted during President Clinton's years in office, then no doubt President McCain or, God forbid, President Palin would take a wrecking ball to whatever is remaining.

Get on the campaign trail and run for Obama-Biden as if you both were running for President again yourselves. Speak across the country, shamelessly blast the GOP and McCain-Palin, and work in coordination with Team Obama and stop dictating what you will and will not say. This should not be about you: it should be about getting Obama elected and ensuring the ultimate victory of the Democrats. None of this is reactionary: it is pragmatic and common sense. While seeing Senator Obama inaugurated on the steps of the Capitol on January 20 would no doubt be bittersweet for both of you, in the long-run an Obama presidency would do the most to advance the same principles and beliefs both of you hold dear and have dedicated your professional lives to preserving and advancing.

Senator Obama needs you.

Democrats need you.

And I need to see you out there in front of thousands strong wherever you go. So get up, and get going. Your roles in history will be all the better for it when if Senator Obama ends up winning, and winning with your key assistance.

To borrow the words from my all-time single favorite movie scene, which also happens to be in my all-time favorite movie

I hope this letter finds you, and finds you well.

Your friend,
Mark

p.s. Senator Clinton, I have one other favor to ask of you: can you please to tell that smarmy little worm Howard Wolfson to please go away? He is without a doubt one of the most unlikeable creatures in politics, and that is saying a lot.