When the universally-panned trashy tell-all “The Truth About Hillary” hit bookshelves last year, one amusing sidelight was the fact that author Edward Klein is the pseudonymous author of “Walter Scott’s Personality Parade” in Parade, the semi-glossy Sunday insert that appears in virtually every newspaper in the country not owned by Gannett.
The book made a number of dubiously-sourced allegations about the Clintons’ private lives, most of which were recycled, while the new ones were so outrageous even the Clintons’ most hardy detractors took exception. The book failed, Hillary’s career survived, and that was that.
However, Klein has now revisited his subject — and appears to have changed his tune. Having exhausted the rest of today’s Washington Post, I picked up today’s Parade from the stack, and found in the latest “Personality Parade”:
Q: How does the Democratic Party’s takeover of the House and Senate affect Hillary Clinton’s chances of getting the 2008 Presidential nomination?—Daniel O., Los Angeles, Calif. A: Judging by the large number of moderate and conservative Democrats who won last month, it looks like Senator Clinton and her party are moving in the same direction: toward the political center. (Another indication: Sen. Russ Feingold, a leading liberal, dropped out of the 2008 presidential race.) Being on the same wavelength as her party should make it easier to secure the nomination.
I’m not sure what to do with this, if anything. After all, who looks to Parade for political advice? People who read Parade on a regular basis, I suppose.
For one thing, I am certain that many on the left, particularly those in the blogosphere, will disagree with the notion that the Democratic party is moving significantly toward the center. The “large number” of moderates and conservatives is simply wrong; for every Heath Shuler there’s a Sherrod Brown, and district by district results aren’t always the best indicator of which direction the party is going. Look instead to the leadership and the committee chairs — such as impeachment-itchy House Judiciary chairman John Conyers, resolutely anti-war Senate Armed Services chairman Carl Levin and soon-to-be Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And I am certain that many on the left, particularly those in the blogosphere, will not think they move away from the center enough.
Additionally, Feingold’s withdrawal says nothing of the sort. It says a lot more about the fact that he would be an issue candidate beloved of bloggers but not fundraisers or primary state activists. Last year he divorced his wife, which didn’t help things any. Meanwhile Dennis Kucinich — newly remarried and even further to the left — is probably going to run again, not that he has a chance either.
The “Walter Scott” column does suggest one other thing: Despite his own portrayal of Sen. Clinton as a radical lesbian feminist, when he’s not trying to sell books, Edward Klein doesn’t even believe himself.
