A future with the Clintons

Re “Hillary is small change,” Opinion, Oct. 23

Jonah Goldberg desperately attempts to convince us that the unmitigated moral, ethical and economic disasters of the Bush administration will not have a permanent effect on the way the Republican Party is perceived in the future. “Clinton nostalgia,” on which he claims so many Democratic strategists are drunk, is little more than the distinguishing of a mediocre and deeply compromised presidency from one of the most disastrous and embarrassing in history. Of course, Goldberg hopes that voters will simply regard this Bush presidency as some sort of anomaly. His real concern may be that too many citizens will come to realize that tax cuts for the rich, an illegitimate war for oil, the unspeakable indifference of the Hurricane Katrina response, the unprincipled veto of the children’s health insurance legislation, the evisceration of the Bill of Rights and so many other positions taken by this administration actually reflect the debased foundation of racism, fear, hatred and greed that has come to define GOP values.

Michael Toohey Heilig

Venice

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I rarely agree with Goldberg, but I think Hillary Clinton gives the Republicans their best chance of retaining the White House. As a Democrat, I will vote for her if she’s the nominee. However, I won’t be voting for her in the California primary. Democrats need to realize how much dislike voters across the country have for the Clintons.

Mark McIntyre

Los Angeles

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Goldberg thinks that “audiences will remember Whitewater, travelgate, illegal fundraising, bimbo eruptions and impeachment.” Really? Raking up this irrelevant rubbish is hardly the way to fix the damage from years of Republican lies, corruption and incompetence. The theme of the next election will be recovery from Bush’s colossal mess. Rest assured that reports of this will keep trickling in. Voters realize that, effectively, the president for the early years will be Bill Clinton. He left office with excellent ratings and was the “best Republican president” we have ever had (according to Alan Greenspan). Now add Al Gore as secretary of State and a filibuster-proof Senate majority, and we’ll be on the road to recovery.

Ian Freeman

Thousand Oaks