> I continue to be mystified by many leftists' kindness towards Clinton.
>
When you say "leftists," you want to clarify what sort of "leftists" you have in your mind. I don't see much kindness toward Clinton among leftists to the left of, say, the right wing of the DSA.
Check out, for instance, Robert Pollin, "Anatomy of Clintonomics," <http://www.umass.edu/peri/pdfs/PS12.pdf>.
Cf.
***** Robert Pollin Contours of Descent: US Economic Fractures and the Landscape of Global Austerity
The US economy faced the prospect of a serious recession even prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The highly unstable economic conditions that Clinton handed to Bushówage stagnation, rising inequality, and a wildly inflated stock marketówere hardly noticed amid the near-universal praise for the economic stewardship of Clinton and his supposed policy maestro, Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan. Contours of Descent shows how the policies of Clinton and Bush in the U.S., as well as those of the IMF with respect to developing countries, are variants of neoliberal economicsówhich lavishes favors on multinationals and capitalists while allowing living standards for ordinary people to fall. Coutours of Descent also explores an alternative policy approach promoting economic growth with increased equality.
<http://www.versobooks.com/books/nopqrs/nopq-titles/pollin_contours.shtml> *****
> Remember the promise to end welfare as we know it from the 1992 campaign?
> That's right -- this was not mentioned.
>
>
Not mentioned by whom? Let's avoid the passive voice here.
> Remember his admission that he'd ordered the bombing of a medicine factory?
> Um, wait a minute...
>
>
The confusion of the very broadly defined left end of the US political spectrum (counting liberal activists) was most clearly shown with regard to Yugoslavia and East Timor.
> If Clinton had won a third term, recent events would have followed the same
> path they've followed.
>
Yes.
> Maybe Dean will take a step or two leftward -- maybe.
>
No. Quite the opposite.
Yoshie