Mark Penn on what Bill Clinton's time in office meant for American politics:
"President Clinton put this country on a fundamentally different path. He changed the fiscal nature of this country, he changed the international relations of this country…He left the country on a totally different trajectory where people felt they were prepared for the 21st century."
As Greg Sargent points out, this is yet another attempt to answer Obama's claim that in the last 30 years, only Reagan had a truly transformative effect on American politics.
Penn clearly misunderstand the nature of transformative political change. Although he's right that Clinton "fiscal nature of this country," the change was obviously only temporary. As soon as he was out of office, the Republicans returned to their Reagan-inspired tax-cut and deficit-spend ways. What Clinton did with the federal budget was wonderful, but it was in no way transformative.
On international relations the claim is equally false. Clinton clearly scaled down military spending to match our newly perceived strategic reality, but this too did not last. Moreover, this was done in reaction to one of Reagan's greatest achievements - hastening the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Clinton's role here was reactive, not transformative.
And this idea that Clinton "left the country on a totally different trajectory" is just absurd on its face. If that were true, Gore would have won and Bush would have lost. To leave "the country on a totally different trajectory," you need to leave behind a new political majority that far outlives your time in office. Like, for example, Ronald Reagan.
In 2008 Republicans are running to claim that they are the most faithful to Reagan's legacy. On the Democratic side, no one other than Clinton's wife is saying that they want to build on Clinton's legacy. Its been 20 years since Reagan left office, but less than 8 since Bill walked out the door. I'm sorry, but I don't care how you define a realignment, but that ain't it.
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