Clinton's strong point is that he is a far better actor than Reagan. He's probably smart and certainly self desctructive. As for the politics, he just has to balance what his daily polls tell him with the demands of big contributors. Gore is not as good an actor and is less effective as a glad hander. He is also more conservative than Clinton -- Makes you sort of long for Richard Nixon, doesn't it. For those of you outside of N. America, Clinton's policy is called triangulation. Look at the Democratic congress as the left wing (Yeh, I know ...) and the Repugs as the right. Split the difference and call yourself a statesman. So long as the stock market goes up and unemployment is not too bad, it works. Let us hope that the circus in Washington brings politics to a standstill before Clinton dismantles the little that is left of the safety net. I think it will be more fun following Maggie and looking for howlers in the back issue of the American Economic Review - and don't forget the Journal of Political Economy. p.s. Milton Friedman writes well. I suspect that we will find that the liberals will lose when it comes to clarity. Michael Perelman
