AS BILL Clinton stood before the microphone Tuesday night, gratefully accepting his election as president, it was hard not to feel a twinge of envy. The Americans can breathe wo:ds Canadian politics have long since forgotten: new, young, fresh, vigorous and exciting. Frem coast to coast in this country, we seem to have this lifeless cast of overpaid has-beens, manufacturing artificiat crises and spurious solutions, working themselves to a frenzy over mat- ters that have little bearing on the lives of ordinary Canadians. Where is the sizzle? Is it remotely possible to be excited by Mulroney, Clark, McLaughlin, Chretien, Turner, Crosbie and the many others? British Columbia, which cuang- ed premiers a year ago, opted for a face that has been around for a generation, whose greatest claim to fame is that he has been least offensive to the Sargest number of people. . If you asked the man-on-the- street to cite one original idea that Mike Harcourt has had in 25 years of public life, you’d soon start worrying that perhaps you'd gone deaf. So TL envied the Americans. They look at a new leader and feel hope. Bill Clinton stood before the crowd in Little Kock and said he had listened to the Americans who cried, ‘We want our future back’, and I intend to help give it to them."” A year ago, few outside of the state of Arkansas had ever heard of Bill Clinton. President George Bush, with an approval rating of 91% in the wake of the Gulf War, seemed like a shoo-in for re-election. inton quickly rose to pro- minence among Democrats. A popular governor with a Ken- nedy-like demeanor, a Rhodes scholar and a talented orator, the first miles on lis highway passed smoothly. But presidential politics in the United States is a grand turkey shoot. The corpses in 1988 were Gary Hart (a glamor boy, caught being giamorous in the wrong places) and Pfassachusetts governor Michael Dukakis (portrayed as 2 wimp, soft on crime). Four years eartier it had been Geraldine Ferraro, as Walter Mondale’s running mate, not ac- cepted as a woman and embar- rassed by her husband’s financial management. The Democrat’s superstar for a generation, Ted Kennedy, main- tained his Senate power, but his checkered personal life made the White House an impossible dream. Jimmy Carter’s star fell fast. Gary Bannerman | OPER LINES Welcomed at first for his easy-going unpretentious charm, he ultimately was resented for be- ing unsophisticated, indecisive and a fumbler. The voters sent him back to his peanuts in Georgia. Nothing was so devastating for the Democrats as the 1972 elec- tion. The famed Watergate break-in occurred before the vote, but its agonizing scandals would not sur- face until long after Richard Nix- on had secured a landslide victory. His victim was the elegant gen- tleman, George McGovern, ridiculed as a peacenik before it was in vogue. This was the election when the Democratic party vice-presidential choice, Thomas Eagleton, was forced to resign when it was learned that he had visited a psychiatrist in his distant past. The message here was, ‘‘once a nut always a nut.’’ It also sent out signals that politicians should never seek counselling for any unpopular ailment. Into this milieu marched the smiling, urbane Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. The heavy artillery didn’t take long to get its bearing. He was accused of marital infi- delity. A publicity-seeking tramp dominated the headlines, boasting about her sexual adventures with the candidate. Clinton and his accomplished wife Hillary faced this head on. They admitted that they had had problems in the past, striking a chord with millions of Ameri- cans who could identify. But the barrage was relentless. Before this had died down, we started hearing about his draft re- cord. Did he er did he not dodge military service? His own answers, covering his period at Oxford and in America, added to the confusion. Police issue fraud warning THE NORTH Vancouver RCMP have issucd a warning to local res- idents that fraudulent canvassers are asking residents to make Gonations to pay for Christmas hampers collected by the North Vancouver Chamber of Com- merce. A chamber of commerce spokesinan said that the organiza- tion is not soliciting for Christmas donations. In any case, a police spokesman said residents approached for support should ask to see an of- ficial tax numbeec and _ identifica- tion. For more information, call the North Vancouver RCMP at 985- W311. The contrast with George Bush — a genuine air force hero — was stark. The president, at the time, was still enjoying the afterglow of Persian Gulf adulation. When the primaries started ear- ly this year, Bill Clinton was at a tow ebb. The press proclaimed him ‘‘dead on arrival’’ in New Hampshire. I spoke election night to Dr. Martin Fellman, a professor of American history at Simon Fraser University. A native of Wisconsin who has been in B.C. for 20 years, Dr. Fellman was in California, in the course of a one-year fellowship at Stanford University. He said that in a perverse sort of way, the personal attacks on Clinton worked to his advantage. “I think it actually impressed the voters that he was resilient. It is amazing the amount of abuse the politicians take. “The good ones seem to even enjoy the combat,” Dr. Fellman sai I had a sense of deja vuona cruise last June. One night, dining with the Greek captain and several other guests, a newspaper editor from Pensacola, Florida, asked what I thought about the U.S. election. Twenty years earlicr, on another ship, as we dined with the purser a passenger had posed the same question. That time, I rashly snapped: “Nixon should be in jail." The next night, this passenger was absent. The purser explained that he had requested a change of APlace To Go When | You're Pregnant And Need Support: | QIRTHRIGHT Invest $10,913 today and receive $23,750 in 10 years. For more information, please call § The North Shore’s only full Service investment firm RBC DOMINION SECURITIES 925-3131 201-250 15th Street, West Vancouver Sunday, Nov. 8, 1992 - North Shore News - 9 lope springs eternal in U.S. politics table, explaining that he had taken the cruise to get away from poti- tics. When our Pensacola friend put his query this past sun:mer, | related the 1972 story. Undeter- ted, he insisted on an answer, “among friends.”” My reply was: ‘If Kermit the Frog were running for the Demo- crats, he’d be my choice.*’ We explained that in the face of urban devastation, Americans had to vote for social change. Dollars and SWAT teams were not solving anything. It was the wrong answer. Pen- sacola declared himself: Ross Perot was his man -— Perot would drastically change economic direc- tions. Post-election analyses unani- mously pointed to the economy as the cause of Bush’s demise. This obscures the United States’ suicidal march. The proliferation of guns and weaponry on Ameri- can streets has been matched in history only by nations in the midst of total warfare. The gap between rich and poor is widening. Not only can the country not afford enough police to catch the crooks, there is an acute shortage of jail cells and courthouses. There will be many more Los Angeles riots. The problem is a state of mind. The inexorable path leads toa day when the rich will live in ghettos, protected by dogs, guards, fences and guns. Surrounding their domicile will be an endless sea of urban destruction. You can see this to- day in most large U.S. cities. Clinton’s campaign was aided by two overwhelming forces beyond anybody's conirol: severe economic stagnation and the Los Angeles riots. These events crystallized in the public mind, a feeling of desperaiion. The American people voted for “Hope.”’ It’s name — for a while at least —- is Bill Clinton. CARPET CLEANING “Introductory Offer” Have your living and dining room professionally steam-cleaned with our TRUCK MOUNT SYSTEM Since 1976 SaRPET CLEATIRNG $4922. Call for details 986-6588 * Some restrictions may apply MARINA B.C.'s Premier Marina Now Has NWiGORAGE AVAILABLE TU 25’ ¢ 860 Berth Fuil Service Marina ¢ 8C’s Most Protected Moorage © 24 hr. Staffed Security * Competitively Priced *® Ample Secured Parking CALL SOGN — AVAILABILITY LIMITED — 921-7434 Thunderbird Marina — Fisherman's Cove 5776 Marine Dr., West Vancouver, when wearing AMOENA AFFINITY. 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