Watching Hillary Clinton kick off yet another presidential campaign, it’s hard to believe that the Clintons once were new on the national political scene. But of course they were new in 1992, a moment captured in War Room, the groundbreaking documentary of the ’92 campaign.
And thinking back to that movie, one clip seems particularly relevant today — James Carville’s colorful assessment of President George H.W. Bush:
“The stench of yesterday“—let’s put this in perspective: On Election Day ’92, George Bush was 68 years old. On Election Day 2016, Hillary Clinton will be 69.
In ’92, Bush had been on the national political scene for about 25 years—that is, since getting elected to Congress in ’67. In 2016, Hillary Clinton will have been on the national political scene for about 24 years—that is, since Bill ran for president.
Baby boomers like to fool themselves into thinking that 60 is the new 40. But there is no avoiding the fact that Hillary Clinton is just as outdated as the “Greatest Generation” candidates Bill faced in ’92 and ’96. (Maybe next Hillary will borrow Bob Dole’s line, and promise “a bridge to the past.”)
And so someone should ask Carville how the new campaign smells. In the meantime, the rest of us won’t stop thinking about tomorrow.
