Promoting mass purchasing power

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Sun Sep 20 09:50:06 PDT 1998


Louis Proyect wrote:


>A Marxist analysis of the Clinton presidency would focus on the ways in
>which he is a continuation of Reagan and Bush. His attacks on minorities
>and the environment are extremely reactionary.

Clinton as the killer of Rickey Ray Rector, the signer of the end-of-welfare bill, and the launcher of cruises into Khartoum sure fits this bill, but why is he so damn popular among African-Americans, with an 80-90% approval rating?

There are lots of ways in which Clinton is the consolidation of the Reaganbush program - and he reflects the way that Reaganism transformed the Dems into a more conservative party. But there's something different too - the imagery is deliberately inclusive, antiracist in gesture, as if the welfare and crime policies weren't racist. Reagan would never have Vernon Jordan as a golfing and pussy-talk buddy; he didn't even recognize his own (black) HUD secretary at a White House cocktail party. Bush had Powell and Thomas, but they're different. Clinton is corporate multiculturalism in a way that Reagan and Bush never were. Maybe young Bush could be.

Doug



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