The McLaughlin Group: January 22, 1993

Source:The McLaughlin Group, perhaps no further explanation needed here. I sure hope so.

"This episode of The McLaughlin Group (which is incomplete, by the way) originally aired on Friday, January 22, 1993 -- two days after Bill Clinton was inaugurated President.  Panelists are Fred Barnes, Eleanor Clift, Chris Matthews (filling in for Jack Germond) and Mort Kondrake." 

From My Vintage Video

As far as Bill Clinton's 1993, inaugural, I think there are great reasons why William Jefferson Clinton gets compared with John Fitzgerald Kennedy: tall, handsome, youthful looking, very funny, optimistic, etc, but there's an even better reason than that. 

If you watch and listen to President Clinton's speech here, he's not promising the world to everyone and telling them that it's not going to cost anyone anything, expect for perhaps maybe the wealthy. He talks about the challenges that the country is facing and then talks about how the country can address them and how we'll be better off in the long run together. Instead of we can solve all our problems right now with this program, that program, and another program, and it's not going to cost anyone anything, expect for perhaps the wealthy. 

Another reason why WJC gets compared with each other has to do with rhetoric. 

In JFK's 1961 inaugural, he says: "Ask not what you can do for your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." 

In 1993, WJC says: "There's nothing wrong with America, that can't be fixed with what's right with America." And then he gets into things like if you commit yourself to public service and the country, you can go to college for free. He was talking about empowering Americans, especially young Americans, who are struggling and need a break to get started in America and make it in America on their own. 

As far as Bill Clinton's early struggles early on and not just his first two years, but first month, if you think about it: imagine waking up and finding yourself on another planet for the first time in your life and having no idea even where you are, expect that you know that you are in charge of this huge organization known as the executive branch of the United States Government. That's what the Clinton Administration looked like in early 1993. 

The Clinton White House looked like Amateur Days At The White House, seeming to have no idea where they were and what they were supposed to be doing. And it cost them, as well as the Democratic Party in those first two years, especially 1993. 1994, expect for the Congressional elections where the Democratic Party lost both the House and Senate, was much better for them politically and operationally, with real accomplishments under their belt, including 2 popular Supreme Court justices at that point.

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