ten minutes of what I thought was a serious conversation

I said I thought the President should use the enormous political capital he had as a result of the Gulf War to tackle the countrys big issues. After five or ten minutes of what I thought was a serious conversation, Roger cut it off and got to the point. Ill never forget the first words of the message he had been designated to deliver: Cut the crap, Governor. He said they had reviewed all the potential candidates against the President. Governor Cuomo was the most powerful speaker, but they could paint him as too liberal. All the senators could be defeated by attacks on their voting records. But I was different. With a strong record in economic development, education, and crime, and a strong DLC message, I actually had a chance to win. So if I ran, they would have to destroy me personally. Heres how Washington works, he said. The press has to have somebody in every election, and were going to give them you. He went on to say the press were elitists who would believe any tales they were told about backwater Arkansas. Well spend whatever we have to spend to get whoever we have to get to say whatever they have to say to take you out. And well do it early. I tried to stay calm, but I was mad. I told Roger that what he had just said showed what was wrong with the administration. They had been in power so long they thought they were entitled to it. I said, You think those parking spaces off the West Wing are yours, but they belong to the American people, and you have to earn the right to use them. I told Roger that what he had said made me more likely to run. Roger said that was a nice sentiment, but he was calling as my friend to give me fair warning. If I waited until 1996, I could win the presidency. If I ran in 1992, they would destroy me, and my political career would be over. After the conversation ended, I called Hillary and told her about it. Then I told Mack McLarty. I never heard from or saw Roger Porter again until he attended a reception for the White House Fellows when I was President. I wonder if he ever thinks about that phone call and whether it influenced my decision. Ever since I was a little boy I have hated to be threatened. As a kid, I got shot by a BB gun and slugged by a much bigger boy because I wouldnt walk away from threats. In the campaign and for eight years afterward, the Republicans would make good on theirs, and as Roger Porter had predicted, they got lots of help from some members of the press. Like the childhood BB shot in my leg and the roundhouse blow to my jaw, their attacks hurt. The lies hurt, and the occasional truth hurt more. I just tried to keep focused on the job at hand and the impact of my work on ordinary people. When I could do that, it was easier to stand up against those who craved power for its own sake.