Extreme political makeover

John Kerry has the potential to be a far greater leader than Bill Clinton.

By Arianna Huffington

Jul 1, 2004 | Among the headline-grabbing disclosures from the Clinton Rock and Roll Revival World Tour -- ranging from the former president's once dreaming of being a doorman at the Plaza Hotel to his being on the South Beach diet -- was a little-noticed morsel in the Boston Globe noting that Clinton has advised John Kerry to "campaign as though Iraq was stable, the economy was going great guns, and bin Laden was dead ... concentrating on selling himself."

Thanks, Bill, but maybe you should concentrate on selling your books. That's got to be the worst advice given a presidential candidate since someone told Mike Dukakis to put on a helmet and hop in that tank.

Of course, Clinton is just offering Kerry what has always worked for him: It's all about me, stupid!

And if you're Clinton -- and it's 1992 -- maybe that works. But Kerry's not Clinton (which is not to say that's a bad thing) and 2004 bears no resemblance to 1992. Trying to get Kerry to be more like Clinton is like trying to get Ian McKellen to be more like The Rock -- it just ain't in the genes.

The problem with Clintonism as a political strategy is that its namesake's political gifts are not transferable -- so Clintonism shrivels like a pricked balloon without the outsized persona of the Man From Hope.

"How many Democrats," a Kerry staffer worried, "are going to look at Bill during the convention and think: He's still the best candidate we have."

But while Clinton was, is, and will always be a better candidate than Kerry, Kerry has the potential to be a better president than Clinton -- and a far greater leader.

The Roaring '90s were the perfect era for a virtuoso politician like Clinton. The post-9/11 age calls for a candidate who can turn the focus onto the people he wants to lead -- on their struggles and their dreams and their desire for unity and a better life for their children.

That means a candidate like John Kerry, who this week told those gathered at a Rainbow/PUSH Coalition conference, "The stories of your lives have become the work of my life. I am running for president to be part of making your dreams real again. To fight with you in your struggles." As I was pondering the divergent appeals of Clinton and Kerry over dinner with a friend, he told me the story of trying to sell his house -- a small but comfortable home in Santa Barbara with an absolutely breathtaking view. He first tried to sell it with a flyer featuring a photo of the house, but didn't get a single offer. He then swapped the photo of the house for one showing the spectacular view from the porch. The house sold -- for well over the asking price -- within a few days.

The point being: You gotta play to your strengths.

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