Bill Clinton would never be nominated in today’s Democratic party, writes the Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner. Yes, the Republican party is fundamentally more conservative than ever, but the Democratic party has moved ever farther to the left.
Bill Clinton’s presidency was hardly a golden age of small government. But there were notable successes on the deregulation front, including in telecommunications, transportation, and financial services. Today, Hillary proposes a host of new business regulations — a higher minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, and fixed rather than flexible schedules. She believes that Dodd–Frank doesn’t go far enough. And she supports much tougher EPA regulations.
In fact, it is doubtful that today’s Democratic party would even nominate the Hillary Clinton of 1992–2000. She has had to “evolve” on a host of other issues besides the ones mentioned above — same-sex marriage, the Iraq war, and even undocumented immigrants. Certainly, no one can accuse her of “a foolish consistency,” to borrow Emerson’s phrase.
Read more from Mr. Tanner here.
