My letter from Bill Clinton

Political fund-raisers are always a great target for blog posts. Most of my political mail is from conservatives, but I still get some liberal envelopes, possibly because of my subscription to the New Republic.

This week, I was very flattered to receive a letter from Bill Clinton, who addressed me as “Dear Friend.” One of the most noticeable things about Bill’s letter was what it didn’t mention. Amidst all the lavish praise for President Obama and scorn heaped upon Republicans, the word ‘Afghanistan’ was nowhere to be found. Likewise ‘terrorism’, ‘national security’ and ‘Guantanamo’.

I guess there’s two ways to read that, neither of which are kind to Democrats. First, the party leadership knows that its base is disconcertingly to the left on national security issues, so better not to remind them that the President is tacking to the center. Second, the leadership is relatively sympathetic to the base, but doesn’t want to go on record with those kind of views, because they may come back to haunt the party at election-time.

Forgive my gloating. Self-abasement will follow when I get my next GOP fund-raiser.