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Jewish World Review August 23, 2000 / 22 Menachem-Av, 5760

Chris Matthews

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Consumer Reports


Truth and beauty in
Bubba's farewell


http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- THE POET John Keats, who wrote at the beginning of the 19th century, could have foreseen the power of Bill Clinton's delivery at the outset of the 21st.

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty -- that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

Last Monday night, the meaning of those lines came rushing through me as I sat in a TV booth high above the Democratic National Convention and heard the president bid farewell to his party. Nothing is more beautiful, it struck me, than the marriage of Bill Clinton and the truth.

Clinton came to the convention hall with a basic, undeniable message: He had done what he'd promised to do. He had sought the presidency to help that embittered, struggling class of Americans, many of them Reagan Democrats, families who lived for so many years from paycheck to paycheck. Today, the welfare queens those families so detested have jobs. The families themselves have 401(k)s.

Clinton delivered the numbers behind the facts with rousing precision.

"More than 22 million new jobs; the lowest unemployment in 30 years, the lowest female unemployment in 40 years, the lowest Hispanic and African-American unemployment on record, the highest homeownership rate in our history. The number of families who own stock has risen by 40 percent."

He then let fly with the deal-maker, the old Gipper standard of presidential success:

"My fellow Americans, are we better off today than we were eight years ago?"

Clinton was having fun, splashing in the water of truth like a kid on his first trip to the beach. "Remember, our Republican friends said then they would absolutely not be held responsible for our economic policies. I hope the American people take them at their word.

"You know, Harry Truman's old saying has never been more true: If you want to live like a Republican, you better vote for the Democrats."

He has won and so has the country, Clinton told the delegates and those watching from home, because he turned the Democratic party around. He was a "New Democrat," a leader who'd built his house with balanced budgets, free trade, welfare reform and crime-fighting.

Clinton had sought the White House to help that struggling class of Americans from which he himself had arisen, the father who cried when he lost his job to the latest recession, the immigrant who'd come here for freedom, only to fear letting his children play in the streets.

"I ran for president to change the future for those people."

On Monday night, Bill Clinton presented an honest report card on how he had delivered on that promise. "Remember," he said in the most unforgettable phrase of the evening, "whatever you think of me, keep putting people first, keep building those bridges, and don't stop thinking about tomorrow."

"Whatever you think of me."

Finally, Bill Clinton had gotten it right. He had given the most beautiful speech I can remember by speaking the unalloyed truth. He had finally recognized that it's not about him. It was never about him or what people think of him. It's about the country.



JWR contributor Chris Matthews is the author of Hardball. and hosts a CNBC show of the same name. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

Up

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© 2000, NEA