Joe Klein takes a stand against Clinton/Bush dominance

Time's Joe Klein joins my call to oppose any Clinton or Bush running for president in 2008:

What's more, I suspect there would be innate and appropriate populist resistance to this slouch toward monarchial democracy [if Hillary runs for president in 2008]. There is something fundamentally un-American -- and very European -- about the Clintons and the Bushes trading the office every eight years, with stale, familiar corps of retainers, supporters and enemies. Bill Clinton was a good President. Hillary Clinton is a good Senator. But enough already. (And that goes for you too, Jeb.)

A Bush or Dole has been on every Republican ticket since 1976, and if Hillary is chosen by the Democrats in 2008, that would mean that Clintons would have been three of the party's last five nominees. This is not an aristocracy -- our presidential politics need fresh blood.

Comments

[SRJ]

While dynastic politics exist in several European countries, it has never been such an integral part of democracy there as it has in the US. Dynastic political elites have been a part of America since its inception, starting with the Adams presidencies and continuing into the modern day with the Kennedys, the Scalias, the Clintons and the Bushes. Regional politics are also fairly dynastic: the Daleys of Chicago are only one prominent example.