The poisoned fruit of Kelly's fixation on character was his obsessive hatred of the Clintons. He often seemed to want to say something about the perils of liberal elitism and social engineering. I wish he had; it would have been worth reading. Unfortunately, it always came out sideways, as suspicion or resentment of liberal elitists, personified by Bill, Hillary and friends. When Clinton's adultery and cover-up became public, Kelly saw in it a profoundly significant instance of class exploitation and abuse--Bill's, and then his lawyers', of Paula and Gennifer. He pursued Clinton like a Fury. "He must be impeached," Kelly thundered nine times at the end of one particularly overwrought Washington Post column, like Cato the Elder demanding the destruction of Carthage, "because, in his pathology, he does great and heartless violence to other people and to the nation." One can forgive Kelly for believing, however implausibly, that Clinton's offenses warranted impeachment. But not to notice that the Republican Congressional majority was merely exploiting the Democrats' paralysis to continue doing its far greater and more heartless everyday violence--regulatory, environmental, fiscal, judicial-- this is much harder to forgive. Kelly eventually transferred his anathema to Al Gore. In a column wisely not reproduced in this book, he opined (I'm quoting from memory): "Better a 40-watt bulb [i.e., GWB] as president than someone so tainted by the corruptions of the Clinton White House." If 537 people in Florida read that sentence and were persuaded by it, then Kelly has a lot to answer for.

In September's American Prospect, Matthew Iglesias looks back at the 2000 election:

With the country enjoying a seemingly endless spell of peace and prosperity, and no apparent daunting challenges facing the next chief executive, the media were finally granted the chance to construct a narrative entirely around personalities. Al Gore, based on a handful of small exaggerations and his association with the occasionally sordid behavior of Bill Clinton, was said to have a character problem.... Liberals unanimously believed that Bush was not up to the intellectual challenges of the job. But fearful of re-enforcing a stereotype of left-wing elitism, they time and again shied away from pressing the argument. With the point thus conceded, Gore fought things out on the enemy terrain of character.... Three-plus years later we know better, or at least we should.... The job of the president of the United States is...to manage a wide range of complicated issues. That requires...intellectual curiosity, an ability to familiarize oneself with a broad range of views, the capacity--yes--to grasp nuances, to foresee the potential ramifications of one's decisions, and, simply, to think things through. Four years ago, these things were not considered necessary pieces of presidential equipment.

For that state of affairs, and its persistent dire consequences, Michael Kelly deserves a healthy share of the blame.

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