If Clinton is to succeed, we must work with him, not buck him

The Boston Herald

Beverly Beckham

This is what we want from Bill Clinton: We want him to turn the country around, to heal the wounds and bridge the divisions and make us all one nation under God again.

We want him to fix the economy, clean up our cities, put an end to crime, banish illegal drugs, reduce unemployment, repair our schools, invest in education, build affordable housing, find a cure for AIDS, create a universal health-care system, secure nuclear wastes, refurbish our highways, reduce pollution, be fair to Haitians, stand tough with Saddam Hussein, deal with Somalia and talk sense to the Serbs.

We want him to feed the hungry and care for the needy and punish criminals and get along with the world and support U.S. industry and make lucrative trade agreements and be fair and honest, and keep us out of war.

It's a big "to do" list for any one man. And these are just the imperatives.

Then there are the day-to-day things: meetings with corporate presidents and Boy Scouts and legislators and people who helped him win the election, photo opportunities, phone calls, press conferences, letters, opinions, decisions.

Why anyone would seek this job is a mystery. But Clinton wanted it and went after it and Wednesday it will be his - White House, Secret Service people and all.

And here we stand, holding our breath and crossing our fingers, praying that he can do even half of what he said he can do; that he can do what no one else has been able to do for too long a time: breathe hope into this country and into the hearts of the people throughout the world.

It's here for the moment. You can feel it. It has been pouring out of Little Rock, Ark., and Washington for weeks - anticipation, optimism, expectation, a belief in a new beginning.

But the reality is there is no new beginning. Clinton is not inheriting a new world with a clean slate. He gets as his inauguration gift every one of the old problems, which grow a little bigger every day.

Clinton, full of ambition and drive and determination as he is, is only flesh and blood, one vulnerable, fallible, imperfect human being. What can he do to solve an entire country's complex problems and to make needed changes in the world?

Alone, he can do little. He can say all the right words and go through all the right motions. He can propose elaborate government programs. He can posture and preen and play a good game.

But unless the diverse groups of people who are citizens of this country unite and back his efforts and support him in his endeavors, his presidency won't change a thing.

Ideally, what Americans would like is for Clinton to be a bit of a magician and spare us a lot of trouble, take his oath of office, address the crowd and immediately right everything that's wrong - preferably without any inconvenience or cost or pain.

He should rid us of crime, poverty, violence. Puff, and suddenly it's gone, simply because he wished it so.

Imagine waking up Thursday morning to a gentler world. No more guns. No more homeless people on the streets. No more hungry children and battered wives. No more idiots shooting at school buses. No more carjackings. No more locking the house doors and the car doors and checking the back seat all the time. No more violence of any kind.

But Bill Clinton is not Robin Williams, transformed into a glib, garrulous genie by Disney. Clinton doesn't have the power to grant wishes, or say bippity-boppity-boo and turn rags into evening wear. He will have to work hard for the changes he has promised.

So will we all. If this administration is to succeed - and it must because the alternative is more poverty, more violence, more crime and the slow, bleeding death of freedom as we know it - then we must work with Clinton, not buck him at his every move. Not throw stones in his way. We need to give him a chance.

Clinton was elected to lead. This requires that we, the people, put aside our personal agendas, reach across old barriers, join hands and follow.