Josh Marshall on the Clintons [View all]

[MBS]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-joy-and-the-drama
Like many of you, my formative political experiences were in my 20s. And for me, that meant the Clinton years. I was just shy of 24 when Bill Clinton was inaugurated in January 1993 and living in Washington in my early 30s when he left office. I don't think anyone could be a bigger Clinton diehard than I was in those days. And if it were still the mid- or late 90s, with all the frivolity and nonsense that characterized those years, I still would be. When I was trying to make my way into journalism in the late 90s, I considered writing a book at the phenomenon of Clinton-hating, which I still think would be a fascinating book because feelings about Bill Clinton, on both sides of the equation, are a fascinating way to explore intricacies of that decade.

On the merits, I think Hillary Clinton might make a good president. Obviously, I think she'd be infinitely preferable to anyone the GOP would nominate to challenge her. But the latest email blow up reminds me again - and I didn't need any reminding - why I also quietly dread her campaign and her presidency. In a word, the drama.
. . .
Though I have not plumbed all the depths of it, the email story is shaping up to be another classic Clinton scandal. On the merits, the hyperventilation seems way out ahead of the actual facts. It's not clear to me that any law in effect at the time was violated . . .. This is the thing with Bill Clinton, which I suspect anyone who has watched him closely over the years will grasp, that his political genius and skills are inseparable from his crushing flaws. If you were around in the 90s you've seen this movie before. The Clintons are great. But there is always something. Always. Always a dance, always drama. It's just inseparable from who they are.