No doubt there will be lots of talk about the future at the state Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner tonight in Charleston. After all, political campaigns are more prospective, about how things are going to be different, fresh and new.
So the Party faithful, candidates and potential candidates for 2016 who gather at the Charleston Civic Center tonight will be priming the pump for the next election. “This helps us build that momentum,” said state Democratic Party chair Belinda Biafore. “We have an election coming up in May. We’ll be able to get our troops on the ground and show them what we’re made of.”
Former President Bill Clinton is the headliner, and that’s a serious “get” for Biafore and the Party. “We hit one out of the park,” said Biafore when the party secured Clinton’s visit.
But as Clinton speaks tonight—undoubtedly about 2016, with perhaps even a mention or two of a certain Democratic Presidential candidate—there will be an unmistaken sense of nostalgia. Bill Clinton’s presidency, from 1993 to 2001, was a good time for West Virginia Democrats.
Clinton carried the state twice, outdistancing George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot in 1992 (Clinton 48 percent, Bush 35 percent, Perot 16 percent) and saw his support increase in 1996 (Clinton 52 percent, Dole 37 percent, Perot 11 percent).
Additionally, in 1992 Democrats held every major office in the state, including all five Congressional seats, and controlled the Legislature. There wasn’t much difference in 1996, except Republican Cecil Underwood was elected Governor over Democrat Charlotte Pritt.
Politically, the livin’ was pretty easy for state Dems during the Clinton era. But Clinton would be the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry West Virginia. Now a jailed felon with a killer mullet gives the current Democratic president a stiff challenge in the state.
The former president, his hair now much grayer, will find a very different political paradigm when he returns tonight. West Virginia has undergone a rapid transition from blue to red, and the state’s Democratic Party faces the significant challenge of trying to prevent the tilt even more to the GOP in 2016.
And that’s why Bill Clinton is perfect for the party tonight. Dust off “Happy Days Are Here Again” or perhaps “The Way We Were” and embrace the vibe. Sure, elections are about the future, but the past party with Bill was just too much fun.
Nowadays, national Democratic Party candidates are rending so far to the left that they’re leaving old line, mainstream West Virginia Democrats bobbing in the surf, uncertain whether to ride the wave or swim against the riptide of liberalism that threatens to carry them out into political oblivion in an increasingly conservative state.
Bill Clinton offers safe harbor. Yes, he’s a liberal, but his presidency was marked more by pragmatism than ideology.
Democrats should get a warm and fuzzy feeling tonight, brought on by a glass or two of chardonnay and a stem-winder by the once charmer-in-chief. Enjoy yourselves. Then tomorrow morning, try to figure out how to get back to the place where you were feeling so good.