“Two Presidential Candidates Stuck in Time”, The New York Times
The Editorial Board, The Sunday Review, May 7, 2017
In his victory speech early on Nov. 9, President Trump told the nation:
“Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country. I mean that very sincerely. Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division,” adding that the country had to “get together.”
In her concession speech hours later, Hillary Clinton said:
“Our campaign was never about one person, or even one election. It was about the country we love and building an America that is hopeful, inclusive, and big-hearted … We must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.”
That was then. Six months on, both Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton are still waging last year’s campaign, undermining their promises to help America heal.
This is particularly offensive — and more than a little pathetic — coming from Mr. Trump, who after all has a nation to run. Nearly four months after his inauguration, he has filled fewer than 30 of the top 500 Senate-confirmed positions in the federal government, is mired in challenges to his domestic agenda and a bog of ethical problems, and faces increased belligerence abroad. Yet he continues to hack away at Mrs. Clinton in remarks and on Twitter, and to rhapsodize about his campaign. Foreign allies have begun ridiculing Mr. Trump for this fixation, diplomats say, advising one another that the way to gain advantage is by flattering him on his “historic” Electoral College win.
With no concrete accomplishments to boast about, and nothing meaningful to offer the working people to whom he promised jobs and a revived industrial America, Mr. Trump repeatedly returns to the campaign trail, seeking solace by stoking resentment of the “elites” and basking in the adulation of the faithful. A little over a week ago, he marked his 100th day in office with a “campaign rally” in Harrisburg, Pa., opening with a tribute to “the wonderful beautiful state of Pennsylvania,” which “carried us to a big beautiful victory on Nov. 8!”
“Does anybody remember who our opponent was?” he asked the crowd, setting off the familiar chant, “Lock her up.”
Nothing in recent history can match the sorry spectacle of a sitting president so desperate for adoration and so indifferent to actual governing that the only satisfaction he can get is from perpetuating the campaign.
Yet Mrs. Clinton, a person of greater substance, also seems unable to shake free.
This week, in a conversationwith Christiane Amanpour, the television journalist, Mrs. Clinton was asked about Mr. Trump’s approach to North Korea and Syria, and about women’s rights around the world. Her insights were strained by insinuations against the president, whom she still refers to as “my opponent.”
As for North Korea, she said, “Negotiations are critical, but they have to be part of a broader strategy, not just thrown out on a tweet some morning.” She added that she supported the recent missile strikes on Syria, but, “I don’t know what kind of potentially, you know, backroom deals were made with the Russians.” Referring to the president’s compulsion to tweet, she said it was “better that, than interfering in foreign affairs. If he wants to tweet about me, I’m happy to be the diversion.” (Something is awry with Mrs. Clinton’s strategy if she thinks she is undermining Mr. Trump by volunteering to be the diversion that he clearly wants her to be.)
After being asked about the election, she suggested that Mr. Trump’s campaign had coordinated with Moscow, a clear and disturbing possibility that is under investigation, but is as yet unproven. Attributing her loss to a decision by James Comey, the F.B.I. director, to notify Congress on Oct. 28 about a newly discovered cache of Clinton emails, she said, citing conclusions of the polling analyst Nate Silver, “If the election had been on Oct. 27, I’d be your president … remember, I did win more than three million votes than my opponent, so it’s like, really?”
Mr. Comey’s actions, as well as Russia’s, merit continued scrutiny. But coming from Mrs. Clinton, given her own unforced (but largely unacknowledged) errors in the campaign, such accusations can sound merely like excuses. And they play into Mr. Trump’s obvious ambition to keep last year’s campaign front and center.
As Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton bait each other, their supporters light up social media, re-litigating the old disputes and attacking one another, too. What’s the point? Mr. Trump is now president of the United States, while Mrs. Clinton has the opportunity to represent the aspirations of her party rather than its grievances.