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Clinton calls for a bridge, not a firewall

November 20, 2008 — What to do with Bill?

That question has come up again in recent days, as US Sen. Hillary Clinton has mulled whether to accept the position of secretary of state. The former president reportedly has agreed to reviews of any future business and charitable dealings in order to clear the way for his wife’s nomination to the post. Even with those restrictions, it could be a little awkward jetting around the globe as one of its best-known figures, if the former first lady’s running the State Department.

But there’s one place where Bill Clinton will never have to worry about any conflict of interest, and that’s on the stump campaigning for Democratic candidates.

Just as he did when he was the president-elect in 1992 and former Sen. Wyche Fowler was the Democrat in a runoff, Clinton came to Georgia Wednesday to campaign for Jim Martin in his race against US Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

The thermometer was headed toward the 20s by the time Clinton arrived at the Clark Atlanta University quadrangle, but the former president got a warm response from a Democratic crowd of more than 2,000.

Clinton focused most of his speech on Chambliss’ runoff theme that he’ll be a conservative “firewall” against a liberal Democratic Congress, since this might be the race which could prevent Democrats from gaining the 60 votes needed to end a Republican filibuster.

“I will give his opponent credit, he has honestly told you what is at stake. It’s the firewall or the bridge. A few weeks ago, people voted for the bridge. Don’t let Georgia put a firewall up in front of the bridge,” Clinton said.

Martin has an uphill fight in this runoff, with African-American Democrats unlikely to return in numbers rivaling election day and Republicans eager to get over Nov. 4. But Clinton told the story of US Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-Tex.), who got into a runoff trailing his Republican opponent by 17 points and won the runoff.

“It depends on how bad you want him to win,” Clinton exhorted Martin’s supporters.

That was also the message of a former Obama staffer who asked Democrats to pull out their cell phones while they were waiting for Clinton to arrive and call their friends to remind them to vote for Martin. This race is becoming the first post-election field test of many of the grassroots campaign methods which worked so well for Democrats Nov. 4.

Back to the original question. Clinton has said he’s run for his last office, but watching him campaign for others, it’s tempting to think of the example of the scion of another great American political family, and a globetrotter himself, John Quincy Adams.

 Two years after he was defeated by Andrew Jackson in the election of 1828, Adams ran for Congress, and served the last 17 years of his life in the House. That might not be possible in this day and time. But seeing Clinton on the stump, even when he's not at his peak, makes you wonder what he could do in a political second life.

Which raises another question: Have any names been floated in New York as a possible replacement for Hillary?