Introduction
by Jack Beatty
| Round Three |
Jack Beatty"J. S. Mill once wrote that in controversies we are often right in what we affirm, but wrong in what we deny. This applies to Sean Wilentz and David Corn. Clinton is subtler and more complex in action than either writer is in reflection, at least in this debate context." Read on...
David Brooks"John McCain has risen to superstardom because he is the anti-Clinton. He makes a fetish of anti-spin." Read on...
David Corn"Clinton may have helped shift the political culture from a period of anti-government to one of small-step government activism. But whatever success Clinton achieved in 'salvaging American liberalism' is tenuous." Read on...
Sean Wilentz"Polemics and cynical 'we-all-know-he's-a-creep' posturing unite the left and the right, without reference to Clinton's actual accomplishments and shortcomings." Read on...
Join the debate in Post & Riposte. We'll highlight selected readers' remarks as the Roundtable progresses.
| Round Two |
Jack Beatty"I still don't regret my two votes for Clinton. He showed that the Democrats can steer the economy to prosperity without triggering inflation." Read on...
David Brooks"I'm baffled by Mr. Wilentz's loyalty to a man who has rarely been loyal to anyone but himself. Not even the Clintonistas are as pro-Clinton as Prof. Wilentz." Read on...
David Corn"Early in his first Administration Clinton's methodology stirred me to recall a lesson from high school biology. He was, I realized, a phagocyte: that's a cell that surrounds a hostile cell and absorbs it, taking on some of its characteristics but neutralizing the threat." Read on...
Sean Wilentz"Corn is aghast that Clinton is a 'waverer' -- which is to say that Clinton freely and skillfully engages in the sort of tactical maneuvering that is part and parcel of any kind of democratic elective government." Read on...
| Round One |
David Brooks"If I had been asked the question
David Corn"Clinton has debased the national political discourse, pushing it below the low standing it held when he took office. And this conclusion can be drawn without even venturing into that nasty business about you-know-what." Read on...
Sean Wilentz"Clinton has led the way in salvaging American liberalism, particularly the Democratic liberal spirit of the early 1960s.... The Reagan-Bush era is dead. Bill Clinton killed it." Read on...
Previous Roundtables.