December 2, 2008

I love love love love the idea of Bill Clinton getting Hillary's Senate seat.

Please, Mr. Governor. Please make it Bill!

Why do I love this idea so much?

1. She wanted his old job, but he'd be getting her old job. I love the narrative arc.

2. I love the idea of a former President going on to another government position -- instead of going about giving speeches or attempting to perform good deeds or playing the elder statesman role. Get back in there and do something.

3. It would be so entertaining having Bill in there mixing it up with the other Senators. Will his narcissism allow him to submit to it? Come on! Show us how your brilliant skills can transform the Senate.

4. It would be nice to have a Senator who you absolutely know isn't dreaming of becoming President.

69 comments:

Anonymous said...

It would be nice to have a Senator who you absolutely know isn't dreaming of becoming President.

Are you sure about that?

Bob said...

Ann, why do you hate New York state so?

Anonymous said...

Windbag, my thoughts exactly.

AllenS said...

Once in the Senate, Bill Clinton could work at getting Amendment XXII repealed.

Hoosier Daddy said...

I'm not sure I can handle much more Change.

TosaGuy said...

I understand the entertainment value, but Bill Clinton has always been an executive and never had to work with a group. If he simply wanted to go to DC and hang out with cute staffers, then he could have a great time. If he actually wanted to do something then he is stuck at the back of the seniority pack without a committee chairmanship which would leave him to be noisy and have the media cover him.....opps, I just talked myself into this idea.

Zachary Sire said...

Ugh...hide the pages.

Original Mike said...

Ugh...hide the pages.

It's OK. He's a democrat.

PJ said...

I was with the Professor up to number 4, but I have a 4 of my own:

4. He'd be a way better choice than any of the other luminaries currently reported to be under consideration.

sonicfrog said...

He could pull a Taft and end up on the Supreme Court.... Oh, the impeachment thing and getting disbarred... nevermind.

garage mahal said...

Ugh...hide the pages.

You mean hide Clinton from the pages.

Ron said...

Bill could ask Spitzer for his 'little black book'! You know..of corrupt Wall Street types...

kjbe said...

I agree, it'd be an 11 on the entertainment dial, but the odds of it happening, I think, are low - Clinton's ego won't let it happen. I'd definitely go to the movie version.

George M. Spencer said...

If Obama had more gravitas, he could have appointed Bill Secretary of State. Like him or not, he has eight hard years experience confronting foreign leaders. His wife has zero experience roughing it up with bad guys.

He's make a good special envoy to India and Pakistan.

DaLawGiver said...

It would be so entertaining having Bill in there mixing it up with the other Senators. Will his narcissism allow him to submit to it? Come on! Show us how your brilliant skills can transform the Senate.

Rush would love it, America would love it and I would love it. Maybe we can give Bill a pistol so he can shoot himself in the leg like Plaxico Buress did.

You gotta love the entertainment in New York!

Henry said...

I like the idea of Bill Clinton in the Senate, especially for his support of free trade and his foreign policy realism. More than any other Senator he will know the fog that Obama -- and his wife -- will have to navigate through.

I do find it hard to believe he'll be good at the constituency services part of the job. No Senator Pothole, he.

Bad for New York, but good for the nation. I hope it happens.

Unknown said...

Ann said, Why do I love this idea so much?
1. ...
2. ...
3. ...
4. ...


I agree entirely, with all four points. It would be very entertaining. And it would be kind of cool seeing a former president in the US Senate.

Going to be fun seeing how your right wing fans react to the idea.

(Oh, wait, there are no right-wingers here; we're all moderates! ;)

DaLawGiver said...

Going to be fun seeing how your right wing fans react to the idea.

Hey, just because you're a right winger doesn't mean you don't like comedy!

Unknown said...

"2. I love the idea of a former President going on to another government position -- instead of going about giving speeches or attempting to perform good deeds or playing the elder statesman role. Get back in there and do something."

Just add, "and making hundreds of millions of dollars by influence peddling."

save_the_rustbelt said...

Looking at the age of Democratic leaders, excepting Obama, the party needs some younger blood about now.

Just, please God, not the insufferable Robert Kennedy Jr.

traditionalguy said...

It would be fun to hear regularly from the master of political triangulation again.Besides, as Senator from NY he could push to keep Obama from selling out Israel.

Simon said...

One of Larry Sabato's nuttier suggestions in his book of nutty Constitutional amendments was to give all former Presidents and Vice Presidents an automatic seat in the Senate. /shrug/ Listen, New York already has the slimiest, nastiest piece of work imaginable for a Senator in Chuck Schumer, so the only way is up.

Simon said...

Verso said...
"Going to be fun seeing how your right wing fans react to the idea."

What is the downside of seeing Bill Clinton emasculated, reduced from the most powerful man in the world to the most junior member of one hundred in a chamber where Seniority is almost everything? I'm all for it.

knox said...

If there's any place Bill Clinton really belongs, it's the Senate. He should fit right in.

holdfast said...

"His wife has zero experience roughing it up with bad guys."

-What about her "marriage"?


If Billy went to the Senate, wouldn't he have to disclose some of his dealings and clients?

Anonymous said...

Yes I love the idea of Bill Clinton taking Hillary's place in the Senate.

No I don't think David Patterson will give him the job. I'm sure Rahm and Obama are pleading with him not to do it.

If Bill Clinton goes back to Washington it will be four years of Obama WHO???

Richard Fagin said...

Bill would be a great choice. His political skills are extraordinary. His views on free trade and welfare would make a good counterweight to Harry Reid's worst impulses. A Democrat governor is not going to appoint the next James Buckley to the Senate, so a relative moderate like Bill would be the best a Republican could hope for.

And if Alcee Hastings can be a Congressman, Bill Clinton can surely be a Senator. What's a little impeachment between friends?

froggyprager said...

He won't do it, he is all focused on his "legacy" and if he is not very effective in the Senate, that would tarnish his legacy and his record as President that he wants in the history books. Also, if he were on any of the committees dealing with foreign affairs, it would be a bit of a conflict for him to be overseeing our foreign policy with his wife at State.

MadisonMan said...

I agree with tosaguy -- Bill Clinton is an executive. He's been a governor, a President. Now he's supposed to be a contented back bencher?

Not gonna happen, although it would be great to see Senator Bill Clinton in a room with microphones and interested press people, and Senator Chuck Schumer over in the corner fuming.

Meade said...

garage mahal said...
Ugh...hide the pages.

You mean hide Clinton from the pages.


Because we all know it was HE who was sexually harassed, not his subordinates. He lied to a grand jury about it only out of fear of what those subordinates might do to him. Mean evil power-hungry subordinates.

Brian Doyle said...

I thought you hated Bill for getting the BJ That Shook the World.

bearbee said...

The genius's in New York and Washington have mightly screwed up the world financial system, why not add Bubba as a New York member of Washington's clown college.

garage mahal said...

Oh Meade you're such a puritan. In my book receiving a hummer is hardly "harassing" the giver.

themightypuck said...

Something new to check out on intrade. I can't imagine BC wanting to be a Senator.

KCFleming said...

Why do the Clintons hate NY so?

Chip Ahoy said...

* pulls out hair *

* glues hair back *

No. Tell me you're just joking. That's it. Oh, you're so funny! You really got me there.

It violates a generally accepted norm against nepotism. Plus, you don't just go around handing out senator seats, especially to relatives. I know you're joking because I understand you to be too level-headed to welcome third-world practices just for your own entertainment.

TJ said...

You all know he said that he doesn't want the job, right?

Anonymous said...

Bill going after hillary's seat would be a first in a long time.

*didn't read the threads yet

Hoosier Daddy said...

Oh Meade you're such a puritan. In my book receiving a hummer is hardly "harassing" the giver.

You're absolutely right garage. In fact, I think it's in every Human Resource manual in the country that it's perfectly acceptable for the Boss to get hummers from his subordinates.

Original Mike said...

I like Original George's idea. Bill would make a good Secretary of State.

Cedarford said...

I like Bill Clinton as a possible Senator. He would be an excellent, capable pick as a pro-economic growth Centrist.

Far better than the smarmy idiot Robert Kennedy Jr., possible living proof every time he opens his mouth of Ethel's dalliance with a retarded milkman....He has been a loser all his life. The only smart male kid of Bobby's, relatively speaking, was Michael
Kennedy, who drilled a babysitter then went headfirst into a tree trying to catch a football. Which, I suppose, further points out how bad RFK Jr is...and his personality matches his coke-ravaged brain.

The Gov may not want to appoint a carpetbagger like Bubba, which would be resisted by State Dems, just like appointing another NYC Jew would be. And Clinton himself may like the "special envoy" thing more.

If I was to guess, Patterson might want an Upstater that could help his gubenatorial bid. Or a well-known white woman from Upstate or on Long Island.

Patterson would also be wise to consider Andrew Cuomo..a hyperambitous prick, but one who also delighted the masses with the skillful Italian vendetta of dragging a wayward Kennedy princess through the dirt in a beautiful public disgracing of her infidelity...

The Drill SGT said...

The only saving grace of having Bubba as the junior Senator would be that it would prevent Cuomo, who had a major hand it creating the mortgage crisis, and RFK Jr who is left of Che from getting the job.

garage mahal said...

You're absolutely right garage. In fact, I think it's in every Human Resource manual in the country that it's perfectly acceptable for the Boss to get hummers from his subordinates.

You don't care about sex, only Democrat sex. Just admit it.

former law student said...

Bill's suspension has been over for a couple years now. I think he should apply to get his law license back, before he moves on.

By the way, Hillary has neglected her CLE to the point where her law license is suspended as well.

ricpic said...

Musical chairs for our ruling caste. Why even keep up the pretense that we're a republic any longer? As to the actual needs of actual New York Staters? Don't make me laugh, say our withit elites. It's all too too tres amusant.

MadisonMan said...

Which Senator would Titus prefer. Who is hottest? (Not that Patterson can tell -- sorry!)

ricpic said...

Patterson could feel who's the hottest. I think that's in the constitution somewhere: the head of state has the right to feel up all his underlings.

Brian O'Connell said...

The Queen steps down so the King takes over? When did we become a monarchy anyway?

See also Bush, Murkowski, Carnahan, Daley, etc....

1775OGG said...

How's Bubba goin fix his lower salary as Senator? Or, is the emoluments clause not applicable to the Clintons?

Chip Ahoy said...

The distress of the thought of political dynasties in the US causes me to cover my glued-on hair and to frenetically produce a crude apple pie.

DaLawGiver said...

Gosh that looks good Chip. Thanks!

Hoosier Daddy said...

You don't care about sex, only Democrat sex. Just admit it.

Oh I care about sex a great deal. The more the better.

But I also recognize that it's always been considered bad form for the Boss to be giving his 20 something subordinate intern the Presidential money shot, political party notwithstanding.

Don't ever take off your ideological glasses garage. You might go blind.

TitusLyposomalDisorder said...

It would be fabulous.

We New Yorkers love the Clintons.

I know except Palladian and Trooper.

The Clintons are trailer park trash that have made it to the world stage as royalty.

A true American story.

TitusLyposomalDisorder said...

Which female senators would Bill be doing?

None of them are really his type.

Maybe Maria Cantwell-that may work.

Meade said...

"None of them are really his type."

That's because none of them, including Maria Cantwell, would be under his authority.

That's the difference between Bill Clinton the adulterer and JFK the adulterer: Kennedy had the manners not to hit on the staff whereas for Clinton, hitting on underlings is what it's all about.

Anonymous said...

WJC wouldn't want the pay cut. Or the supervision that co-habiting with HRC in DC would bring.

Meade said...

Yeah, he needs that like he needs a bad cohabit.

TitusLyposomalDisorder said...

It would be hot if Bill started having an affair with some republican, religious southern christian representative.

Marsha Blackburn-that's the ticket.

TitusLyposomalDisorder said...

Oh, I would love to see him boinking Michelle Bachman. She is just so awful and it would be so wrong but so wright.

Or Liddy Dole another absolute horrible human being.

Mike G in Corvallis said...

Meade wrote:

That's the difference between Bill Clinton the adulterer and JFK the adulterer: Kennedy had the manners not to hit on the staff whereas for Clinton, hitting on underlings is what it's all about.

No, the difference is that the media had the manners not to report it when Kennedy hit on the staff. Ever hear about the two White House secretaries, "Fiddle" and "Faddle," one of them his and the other Pierre Salinger's? According to multiple sources, JFK liked to do both of them in the White House swimming pool.

Trooper York said...

Not true Desdemona. I love the Clintons.

Parliament Funkadelic is all over my ipod.

Meade said...

Well shut my mouth, Michael G. Thanks for the correction.

rcocean said...

Any state that elects Creepy Chuck Schumer deserves Bill Clinton.

In any case, the elevation of Bill Clinton would simply show future generations what a corrupt mess the Democrat party is.

Lie under oath, be impeached, have sex with an intern in the oval office, pardon Marc Rich for a payoff, and the Dems will *still* give you a Senate seat. Its like Tammany Hall for Yale law school grads.

Beldar said...

Prof. Althouse wrote: "4. It would be nice to have a Senator who you absolutely know isn't dreaming of becoming President."

I respectfully dissent. Bill Clinton's #1 goal, even now but certainly after becoming a U.S. Senator, would be to initiate the repeal of the Twenty-Second Amendment.

Mike G in Corvallis said...

If Bill is named Senator, I'd love to see the reactions of several people (some of them bloggers and commenters, a couple of them personal friends) who announced that they were voting for Barack Obama in the primaries "if only to help keep either Clinton from being in the news ever again."

1775OGG said...

Prof Althouse certainly has a better understanding of Con Law than I, a mere citizen, but there seems to be a way for Bubba to become president for a 3rd time, although probably most unlikely.

Assume that the VP office is vacated for whatever reason during Obama's presidency and that BHO appoints Bubba to the VP position. Further, assume BHO doesn't complete his term of office, then Bubba would become the 2nd person to have 3-terms as president. The 22nd amendment precludes someone from being elected more than twice to the presidency but not from holding that exalted office a third time.

Of course, conspiracy theorists would have a hay day with this scenario.

Anonymous said...

Onna t'other hand....Mebbe the plan is for both Clintons to burrow in deep as a way to grease the cannon for the launch of the Chelsea in '16 campaign.

Anonymous said...

If Obama doesn't want WJC to have the Senate seat, then Patterson won't offer it to him.

NY State is in a horrible financial hole thanks to the Wall Street meltdown. The state has been living large on the taxes from those multi-million dollar salaries & bonuses for decades. No more.

I expect Patterson will do whatever Obama wants to keep his bailout options open. This one's Obama's call.

Sorry, Ann.

Ralph L said...

BHO appoints Bubba to the VP position
He isn't eligible for VP or P, which reminds me of my favorite Benny Hill joke:
"You've lived life, with a big 'L'."
"Yes, but I've felt pain, with a big 'P'."