Reply #192: that's odd... [View All]

[American liberal]

I remember that Hillary was put in charge of evaluating and making recommendations re: universal health care and that this country couldn't handle the concept of "first lady" having that kind of responsibility. The media were criticizing her hairstyles, for crying out loud. She was forced under public pressure to step back into the stereotypical role and President Clinton was powerless to push a single-payer proposal forward. If I recall correctly, both the House and Senate were Republican controlled during Clinton's first term and they wouldn't hear of any radical changes.

So, really, I don't think you can blame Clinton. I guess you'd have to blame all the people who voted in that particular Congress and then blame all the people (something like 60% of Americans over the age of 18) who chose to stay home from the polls altogether!

In summary, you can't blame lack of leadership. Clinton tried. He got shut down by all those other people WE put in office!