It was almost as if he were wishing he could have been that virtual president: the country, the economy, the campaigns, run by teams, and he could just be the crafted figure head. Able to concentrate on being virtual if not virtuous.
Although the drama will focus around personal psychology - who is agonising most on which day - we should look for the fundamental themes.
One I suggest is how the business of government has become more and more efficient. This is not the withering away of the state but it is a process of the state becoming increasingly technical in running class affairs, as class conflict is hidden under efficient administration, and efficient presentation. Clinton's mistake seems to be that he got carried away with the part. He really thought he embodied in a very concrete way, almost magical charm and potency.
The other underlying issue I would suggest we can see, is how in marxist analysis the state, while being an instrument of class rule, also has to stand above classes. Republicans and Democrats cannot forget that they have an interest in how much the President is discredited, but it seems to me, and some can suggest I am just being naive, that they genuinely think they must do the decent and honourable thing. It is suggested how heavy this moral burden is. Worse almost than the plight of the people of Bangladesh with half their country under floodwater, worse than the plight of millions in the smashed economy of Indonesia. But the management of the super-class aspect is necessary in every state, and sometimes takes on a life of its own.
Chris Burford
London