Clinton on the Bankruptcy Bill
Ari Berman has an important article in the Nation on Clinton's crew. The whole thing is worth reading, and it touches on a bunch of episodes I've blogged about, including the Fox News-Nielson fight and Glover Park and Dewey Square's involvement in net neutrality. Berman called Glover Park the 'White House in exile'.
This is a very scary prospect. Though I do a fair amount of criticism of the firm, I do want to be fair. Here's an illustration of how they just won't reciprocate. An anonymous reader tipped me off that Glover Park was involved in crisis management for AG Gonzales. I found this hard to believe but not out of the realm of plausibility, so I called the firm up four times to get either a confirmation or a denial, and never heard back from anyone over there. I know that Chip Smith was one of the partners my message went to, and he didn't respond. Through a reporter at the Polito, I was told that the Glover Park denied this allegation absolutely, but no one over there had the common courtesy or common sense to call me back and say this to me directly. I still haven't gotten a denial, and I notice that Smith was an executive at MCI from 1996-2000, MCI being one of the biggest corporate frauds in history. The prospect of a firm this close to the bevy of hucksters in union-busting corporate America being at the core of the next Democratic administration should be worrisome.
I found this fact particularly interesting.
Clinton's rarely been the threat to the business community that many on the right typically allege. She's often partnered with Republicans like Newt Gingrich and Bill Frist. In 2002 she backed a harsh position on welfare reform reauthorization that put her at odds even with conservative Republicans like Orrin Hatch. She persuaded her husband to veto the bankruptcy bill in 1997, voted for a similar version in 2001 and missed the vote in 2005, when Bill was in the hospital. She advocated weakening the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law, telling Feingold to "live in the real world." Unlike Edwards and Obama, she accepts campaign contributions from lobbyists and corporate PACs. "Ask them why they don't take money from lobbyists," Wolfson retorts. "We're proud of our support."
The Bankruptcy Bill is a useful lesson for progressives, because it is precisely the type of out of the spotlight legislation that most Democrats could vote for without penalty and generate corporate contributions. It was one of those gimmes, a little-noticed bill that wasn't supposed to pass. And when no one was looking, Clinton voted for the bill. In 2005, would she have voted for it? Who knows? She might have been responsible for the veto in 1997.
Clinton is a very dangerous candidate. She has a very strong base of support, a huge number of women who love her, and power among the youth. She is also surrounded by a group of opportunistic anti-progressive con men and women. It's a disturbing state of affairs. I hope that someone organizes a PAC or 527 against her brand of centrism, and points out the wild inconsistencies from the left.
Update [2007-5-17 17:52:1 by Matt Stoller]:: A commenter pointed out that she voted against cloture in 2005, so it's fairly likely she would have voted against the 2005 bill. Still, in 2005, it was a high profile issue, and in 1997 and 2001 it wasn't, so her vote must be looked at through that prism. In 1997 it looks like she opposed the bill, in 2001 she voted for the bill. The times when we're not looking is when character comes out, and in Clinton's case her vote for the bill in 2001 is a useful indicator as to where her loyalties may lie. It's possible she's changed, it's just that it's not clear. That was my point.
Update [2007-5-17 18:10:56 by Matt Stoller]:: A friend pointed me to this Radar piece on a Glover Park person offering hypothetical PR advice to Gonzales. The AG certainly didn't take it.
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