HELL NO, I WON’T SAY “NO”: Hillary Clinton refused to recant her vote for the Iraq War on the theory that it will make her appear weak.
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In two weeks the Democratic candidates will gather for their first debate, where Hillary Clinton’s failure to apologize for her vote authorizing the Iraq War will undoubtedly become a hot topic yet again.
For those who have slept through the early phase of the campaign, the other top Democratic candidates have either disavowed that vote (John Edwards), or are on record as saying they never would have voted for the resolution in the first place (Barack Obama).
It’s clear to most observers that if Hillary knew then what she knows now, she would have voted “No.” (An interesting questioning of that view is Michael Crowley’s April 2 New Republic cover story, which argues that Clinton has a serious, consistent, and long-standing belief in deference to presidential authority in matters of war and diplomacy.) Yet she still won’t apologize, apparently on the theory that to do so would appear weak, vacillating, and downright unpresidential because it would weaken the office to which she aspires. Her advisers also apparently think that such an apology would hurt her in a general election.
Yet Hillary has made the wrong move. A glance at the recent history of politics shows that confession is not only good for the soul, it’s good politics.
Politicians as varied as Ronald Reagan and Ted Kennedy have used apologies to rescue their political careers. The key, as they demonstrated, is to apologize in the right way — namely by pleading guilty to a lesser offense and showing contrition for that.
Take Reagan. In the midst of the Iran-Contra scandal of the late ’80s, his poll numbers were dwindling. He stood accused of running an administration that had, perhaps illegally, taken money from a secret arms deal with Iran and diverted it to Nicaraguan contras. When he went on television on March 4, 1987, to respond to a report highly critical of his administration’s behavior he was appropriately apologetic and remorseful.
But Reagan didn’t plead guilty to running a roguish foreign policy; instead, he expressed repentance for failing to supervise his staff adequately:
“[L]et me say I take full responsibility for my own actions and for those of my administration. As angry as I may be about activities undertaken without my knowledge, I am still accountable for those activities. As disappointed as I may be in some who served me, I’m still the one who must answer to the American people for this behavior. And as personally distasteful as I find secret bank accounts and diverted funds — well, as the Navy would say, this happened on my watch.”
In other words, he pleaded guilty to a lesser crime and apologized. And the public eventually forgave him.
Similarly, when Ted Kennedy’s political career faced trouble after the Chappaquiddick incident, in 1969, he, too, made a television address that saved his political career. But he didn’t go on TV and say he was sorry that he was responsible for the death of his car passenger, as his critics wanted him to do. Instead, he pleaded guilty to a lesser crime — leaving the scene of an accident — and showed contrition for that:
“Although my doctors informed me that I suffered a cerebral concussion, as well as shock, I do not seek to escape responsibility for my actions by placing the blame either in the physical, emotional trauma brought on by the accident, or on anyone else. I regard as indefensible the fact that I did not report the accident to the police immediately.”
The political history books are littered with figures who didn’t follow this path and suffered accordingly. Gary Hart in 1987, Joe Biden the same year, and even Bill Clinton in the wake of the impeachment mess, went on television and rather cockily tried to defend themselves. Almost always, it didn’t work.
So the key for Hillary is to apologize profusely for something less than her vote. How might she do that? By saying something like this:
“It’s true I voted for the Iraq War. And it’s also true that if I had it to do over again, knowing what I know now, I would have voted differently. But unlike the other candidates, I had a special responsibility. It was my state that was attacked; it was my state’s firefighters, police officers, and paramedics who died on that tragic day. For weeks afterward, I went to funerals and visited the homes of young widows and widowers and children who had lost a parent forever.
“When it came time to vote on the Iraq War, though I had doubts, I gave the president the benefit of those doubts because I didn’t want to see something like September 11 ever happen again. I was wrong. But let us be clear: all of us are committed to never letting something like that terrible day ever happen again.”
In other words, Hillary could plead guilty to the lesser crime of over-zealously protecting her constituents.
Some might say this would make Hillary look weak, like a candidate who can be swayed by her emotions — a charge often leveled at female candidates. But, as someone who is often accused of being arrogant and aloof, it would help Hillary to occasionally show a little emotion and a lot more humility. And such a statement would put her out in front of the pack as the candidate tough enough to err on the side of aggression when dealing with our enemies. To paraphrase Barry Goldwater, a little extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.
In his terrific book Hardball, Chris Matthews advises candidates who are in trouble to hang a lantern on whatever their problem is. In the debate, if Hillary Clinton followed that advice, her campaign would finally be able to put her Iraq vote behind her.
THE FIELD (ACCORDING TO THE FAB FOUR)
REPUBLICANS
RUDY GIULIANI
Odds for nomination: 6-7
Beatles song: “I Feel Fine”
JOHN MCCAIN
Odds: 2-1
Beatles song: “Help!”
MITT ROMNEY
Odds: 11-1
Beatles song: “Baby You’re A Rich Man”
SAM BROWNBACK
Odds: 40-1
Beatles song: “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party”
T. THOMPSON
Odds: 50-1
Beatles song: “Run for Your Life”
MIKE HUCKABEE
Odds: 100-1
Beatles song: “Carry That Weight”
JAMES GILMORE
Odds: 1000-1
Beatles song: “Honey Don’t”
DUNCAN HUNTER
Odds: 1000-1
Beatles song: “Nowhere Man”
TOM TANCREDO
Odds: 5000-1
Beatles song: “The Fool on the Hill”
RON PAUL
Odds: 10,000-1
Beatles song: “I’m A Loser”
DEMOCRATS
BARACK OBAMA
Odds: 3-2
Beatles song: “Come Together”
HILLARY CLINTON
Odds: 7-4
Beatles song: “Can’t Buy Me Love”
JOHN EDWARDS
Odds: 5-1
Beatles song: “Two of Us”
BILL RICHARDSON
Odds: 55-1
Beatles song: “Don’t Pass Me By”
CHRIS DODD
Odds: 60-1
Beatles song: “Hello Goodbye”
JOE BIDEN
Odds: 70-1
Beatles song: “Things We Said Today”
DENNIS KUCINICH
Odds: 25,000-1
Beatles song: “Not a Second Time”
MIKE GRAVEL
Odds: 1 million to 1
Beatles song: “Good Night”
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