On Clinton's Outcome

EJ Dionne wrote an interesting article on the extremes of Hillary Clinton's ultimately disappointing campaign for president. Here are a couple of positives he sees from her (and her supporters') POV:

1) Hillary is finally her own woman: She started the race unable to escape her husband's considerable shadow, yet throughout the campaign she was far better off in the spotlight than when he took the lead. Bill seemed to be in the news for all the wrong reasons, but Hillary was a legitimate force with talent beyond President Clinton's reach.

2) She did her party a favor: Newsflash-- Democrats struggle with white working class men. Al Gore and John Kerry could never connect with them, and it cost both men the White House. For all Barack Obama's lofty rhetoric, big crowds and bulging war-chest, he, too, was vulnerable on issues that mattered to these voters. He may have been sliding down the Gore/ Kerry path to confounding Election Night loss. But Hillary's campaign forced him off the stage and into the trenches, connecting with the country's middle class backbone.

As Dionne put it:

Clinton, widely seen as the champion of older, well-educated feminist women, could be remembered as the politician who brought the party back to its working-class roots.

For all she's accomplished, and surely these two matters are mere snippets, Clinton has lost a lot as well. She has enormous debt-- some $20 million. Also, her and her husband's reputation in the Black American community, once sterling, will probably never fully recover.

For all the gains and losses, Dionne hopes that Clinton and her supporters emerge from their defeat with a sense of possibility. They failed in a major respect, but Sen. Clinton is more independent, and in many ways stronger, than she ever would have been had she coasted to her "inevitable" mid- winter nomination. Also, one of her allies, like Evan Byah, will likely wind up on Obama's ticket.

Senator Clinton will be a force, to the extent she wants. Dionne hopes she accepts this, and tackles the possibilities of a new role with the same tenacity she pursued the elusive Democratic nomination.

WP: Pearls Before Breakfast

The Washington Post conducted one of the most unique experiments in recent memory, as they set in motion a plan to answer-

What would happen if one of the nation's most acclaimed violinists, played history's most beautiful music on one of the finest violins of the 18th century, while collecting change before an open case in a Metro stop during morning rush hour?

The Post sent Joshua Bell and his Stradivarius to DC's L' Enfant Plaza subway stop to find out. He wore plain clothes and a Washington Nationals hat. For the next hour he played some of the finest music of the past centuries. They set up a hidden camera to capture people's reactions.

Would the music transcend the hustle of the morning commute?

Did Bell draw a crowd?

Was this once-in-a-lifetime event ignored?

Check out the article here (with video evidence) to find out.

Are Happy Days Ahead Again?

The astute EJ Dionne wrote a very interesting piece in the Washington Post asking: Whatever happened to the culture wars that dominated American politics from 2000- 2004?

For an answer, Dionne draws an interesting parallel to the the 1928 election, when Hoover- Republicans of Prohibition and unbridled capitalism handily defeated Democrats, who wanted to booze again and elect the first non- Protestant president, NY Governor Al Smith. With Hoover's triumph, the economic boom of the '20s seemed assured to last.

Four years later, FDR won a landslide against forces he branded "economic royalists." Whether a guy is allowed buy a 10- cent beer doesn't seem to matter when the guy doesn't even have the 10 cents.

Similarly, Dionne states, voters who cited "cultural issues" as pressing when pulling the lever for the anti- gay marriage, pro- life, pro- tax cut George W. Bush in 2000, and again in '04, have bigger concerns now. That's not to say it will necessarily lead to a Democratic victory in November, as Dionne points out, national security concerns have led a once unabashedly right- of- center Republican party to nominate John McCain, one of their most moderate voices, for president.

So it's unclear how it will play out. What is clear, is priorities have changed again, and the culture wars may be on hold for now. That spells bad news for Bill O'Reilly, Will & Grace and people who liked debating what constitutes the term "sexual relations."

Report: Outlook Not Good

The Government Accountability Office has leaked its report on the progress in Iraq into the news media, before it's given to Congress on Tuesday. It seems to undermine next month's White House progress report, which, in all likelihood, will present a rosier picture.

On the surge in Baghdad, the GAO says that although sectarian attacks against American forces have dropped, violence against Iraqis is unchanged, and "the capabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved."

"Overall," the report concludes, "key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds," as promised.

So, when the White House's report comes out in September, it should probably taken with a grain of salt.

For the full story check out The Washington Post.