Swampland - TIME.com

More Polarizing Than Nixon? Please.

Peggy Noonan writes beautifully, and quite often sensibly. Most of her latest column fits that description perfectly. But not this bit of feverish hyperbole:

Mrs. Clinton is the most dramatically polarizing, the most instinctively distrusted, political figure of my lifetime. Yes, I include Nixon.

That is simply an absurd statement. Is Hillary Clinton polarizing? Yes, as every poll we've ever seen on her has shown. But it's ridiculous to suggest that she's more so than Nixon -- or, for that matter, than George W. Bush, or Bill Clinton, or even Noonan's beloved Ronald Reagan. No politician should earn the "most polarizing ever" -- or "greatest ever" -- designation without having sat behind the desk in the Oval Office. No one can polarize, or earn history's praise, on the scale that a president can. Even among non-presidents, is Hillary more polarizing than Jesse Jackson? Pat Buchanan? Pat Robertson? Al Sharpton? I don't think so.


Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

advertisement

About Swampland

Joe Klein

Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. His weekly TIME column, "In the Arena," covers national and international affairs. In 2004 he won the National Headliner Award for best magazine column. Read more

Karen Tumulty

Senior Writer Karen Tumulty has been TIME's National Political Correspondent since 2001, and has also covered the White House and Congress for the magazine. A native of San Antonio, she is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard Business School, where her career choice has significantly lowered the average salary of her graduating class. But she gets lots of free magazines. Read more

Jay Newton-Small

Jay Newton-Small Jay Newton-Small covers politics for TIME. She has covered the Bush 43 White House and also Congress from the DeLay era to the present. And, yes, despite the misleading name SHE is a she. Read more

Michael Scherer

Michael Scherer is a correspondent in TIME's Washington bureau covering the 2008 presidential campaign. He has worked national assignments for Mother Jones magazine and Salon.com. Read more

Amy Sullivan

Amy Sullivan is a senior editor at TIME magazine, and author of the book The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats are Closing the God Gap (Scribner, 2008). A Michigan native, she holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Harvard Divinity School. She writes about religion and politics for TIME, but no longer answers to the name "Bible Girl." Read more

Swampland - TIME.com Archives

December 2007
Choose a day to view headlines.

< Previous Month
> Next Month

1 1
S M T W T F S
            1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Feed Icon RSS Feed

AddThis Feed Button

Daily Email

Get Swampland - TIME.com in your inbox and never miss a day:
 
Delivered by   FeedBurner

The Page

Mark Halperin and the TIME political team covering the 2008 campaign bring you all the latest breaking news, videos, and best stories from every source, all in one place, expertly culled and edited, 24/7.
The Page

More TIME Blogs

  • Swampland
    A blog about politics by TIME's Karen Tumulty, Joe Klein, Ana Marie Cox, and Jay Carney
  • The China Blog
    Daily detours through the world's fastest changing nation by TIME correspondents
  • Tuned In
    A blog about all things television from TIME's TV critic, James Poniewozik
  • Looking Around
    Reflections on art and architecture by TIME critic Richard Lacayo
  • The Middle East
    TIME correspondents blog about life in the hottest and holiest region in the world
  • Nerd World
    Geek culture blog by TIME's Lev Grossman and The Simpsons' Matt Selman
  • Work In Progress
    A blog about life on the job and the job of life by TIME's Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
advertisement