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Explaining American Politics: From Clinton to Fossella
(May 14, 2008)
by Matson, St. Louis Post Dispatch
Explaining American politics to foreigners is not easy especially in this Presidential Campaign Season when you can't tell the pachyderms from the jackasses and vice versa. Ironic reflections are made on Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Vito Fossella
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Print thisA few weeks ago I was giving a tour of multicultural Brooklyn to two journalists of sorts from France and was asked “Is America ready to elect a Black President?” I replied that America wasn’t ready but “America” doesn’t elect the President -- the electorate (a much smaller group) does. For example in 2004 about 60% of eligible voters voted and George W. Bush got half of that or about 30% of eligible voters; only 62 millions votes from a population of about 300 million; about 20% of the total population. So if only a fifth of America wasn’t racist Obama could win.
Then there is the issue of American Political Parties. Most Europeans think of parties as ideological in nature which are left, right and center of something or other. The normal way of thinking of the Left versus Right axis in the US is in terms of the level of Federal Government involvement in things like “The” market and ones personal life. In a gist: Leftists in The States want the government into the market and out of the bedroom and the Rightists wants the reverse… that is unless rich people need money from the rest of us.
Most people think of America as having only two major parties, and that having only two results in stability. Stability at the national level exists because there is virtually no difference in the political platforms of the two parties when it comes to Presidential elections. Actually, this Presidential Campaign Season there are three major political parties. They are The Democratic Party, The Republican Party, and the Clintonpublicratic Party. Given their similarities, it is not surprising that Both The Democrats and The Republicans trace their roots to the same party, The Democratic-Republicans founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and other Federalists in the 1790s. The Clintonpublicratic Party is a relatively recent addition and goes back its founder Bill who with the support of the Democratic Leadership Council (which is not the Democratic National Committee) became the 42nd President of the United States in 1993.
It is interesting to note that it was claimed by some that President Clinton I (William Jefferson) was America’s “First Black President.” It is even more interesting to note that the current aspirant to become President Clinton II (Hillary Rodham) is having none of that. At times it even appears as though Bill’s spouse prefers that he was America’s “Last Black President.” As the remaining, increasingly Whitish, contender in Democratic Presidential primaries, she has been arguing that America is so racist that even a person of so little color as Obama could never be elected. Hillary, as well as Republican Party nominee John McCain can’t help reminding people of Obama’s black bits. Of course it hurts the Democrats but neither the Clintonpublicrats nor the Republicans. Some say the damage to Obama will ensure that, should Herself lose the nomination, Obama will lose in the general election and Hil becomes the preferred candidate in 2012.
In my opinion, Bob Herbert is America’s best op-ed columnist. In his May 10, 2008, New York Times, column “Seeds of Destruction” he reflected on the Clintonpublicrats’ in this way:
“So there was Hillary Clinton cold-bloodedly asserting to USA Today that she was the candidate favored by “hard-working Americans, white Americans,” and that her opponent, Barack Obama, the black candidate, just can’t cut it with that crowd.
‘There’s a pattern emerging here,’ said Mrs. Clinton.
There is, indeed. There was a name for it when the Republicans were using that kind of lousy rhetoric to good effect: it was called the Southern strategy, although it was hardly limited to the South. Now the Clintons, in their desperation to find some way — any way — back to the White House, have leapt aboard that sorry train.
He can’t win! Don’t you understand? He’s black! He’s black!” (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/opinion/10herbert.html)
The newspapers, blogs, airways, and the mouths of talking TV heads are filled with comments about Hillary’s, allegedly Democratic, primary voters telling pollsters that they can’t vote for a Black man for President. The pollsters haven’t figured out yet that these people would vote Republican in the general election anyway. That is unless of course Hillary gets drafted as the Republican standard bearer at their September National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Don’t laugh. It could happen if, paler than Hillary, John McCain totally loses his bearings and forgets to show up during one of his senior moments.
Hypocrisy is another constant among American political parties and politicians. For example, the American Right claims to be “the” party that defends traditional family values and constantly rails against such things as real as well as imagined adultery. Vito J. Fossella is a Republican and the United States Representative for the 13th District that includes all of Staten Island and part of Brooklyn, New York. He seemed to have had so much in the way of “Family Values” that he decided to have two of them at one time. “From a Bright Past to a Cloudy Future” was how Alan Feuer titled his New York Times “Italianate” reflection on Vito’s fall from grace after he was arrested for drunk driving after running a red light in Alexandria, Virginia.‘When Vito J. Fossella Jr., the soon-to-be boy congressman, stood beside the young girls of a cheerleading squad at the Excelsior Grand catering hall in 1997, it seemed a particularly vivid version of Staten Island pageantry. Mr. Fossella — 32 and with Al Pacino looks — was on his way to becoming the sole Republican in New York City’s Congressional delegation at a spirited party billed as an evening of ‘pasta and politics.’
Within days after his arrest, Fossella was outed as a closet adulterer, having confessed that he had fathered a child with an Air Force lieutenant colonel in an extramarital affair. It should be noted in this regard that Congressman Fossella had voted to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood, perhaps because he had no need for it. Vito had everything else going for him. He came from a prominent (Democratic) political family and enjoyed the backing of big-time New York City and Staten Island Republicans such as Guy V. Molinari, former Borough President and Congressman, and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
The 13th Congressional District has been held by the GOP since 1981 (Guy Molinari 1981-90, then his daughter Susan until 1997) It is the only New York City congressional seat held by the GOP. Until now the slightly more liberal Democrats have had little chance of winning it. Staten Island is a political enigma. More voters register there as Democrats than Republican but Republicans tend to win at the polls. Some argue that is because of the influx of Italian Americans from Brooklyn. They, like many other registered Democrats have tended to vote Republican in the borough. They also seem to morph into conservative suburbanites: white, middle-income, church goers, who are (like Vito) married with children. However, many have not yet changed their registration, becoming Democrats in Name Only (DINOs). Having just written a book “The Staten Island Italian-American Experience,” (Wagner College DaVinci Society, 2007) this should all make sense to me, but of course it doesn’t. What I am sure of is that neither Barack nor Hillary is likely to win there in the Fall.
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Fossella
Jerry--
I enjoyed your article very much.
I have an acute interest in Vito Fossella's situation. I was born and raised on Staten Island. I now live in North Carolina; but I am a cousin of Guy Molinari, and worked for him when he won his 1980 congressional election to capture that particular seat from the Democrats. And it has been in Republican hands since then-- until this year, at least. It is now at risk of being lost.
As a conservative Republican, Christian, whose four grandparents all came from southern Italy, this is a heartbreaking situation. While Vito is not purebred Italian (his Wiki entry indicates he also has some Irish blood), he nonetheless comes from a ethnic tradition in which a sense of obligation and duty to one's family has previously been held to be of prime importance. That had been an Italian-American cultural strength, which unfortunately is becoming diluted with assimilation, and as each generation is further removed from our immigrant grandparents and great-grandparents.
I also know that human frailty is unfortunately our common lot, and is not restricted to Democrats or Republicans. The fact that a pro-family conservative falters on matters of adultery or divorce or having out-of-wedlock children is unsurprising, because these pathologies are so widespread throughout our culture, and we all fall short in our own ways. This does not reduce the validity of the pro-family political effort to improve our common culture. That is an uphill battle because of how badly things have deteriorated. But it is also intrinsically Italian because it calls us back to the wisdom of our ancestors, whose devotion to the nuclear family unit was entirely admirable-- and should be emulated.
I look forward to reading your book on Staten Island Italian American culture. Best regards,
Joe Guarino, MD, MPH