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Clinton is not the only public figure who achieves familiarity through show- and-tell. At the Democratic Convention, Al Gore relived the car accident that nearly killed his young son, and Paul Tsongas told us about his battle with cancer, which he now must face again. For years Jesse Jackson has been telling us that he was born out of wedlock. No major political function these days, Democrat or Republican, is complete without at least one AIDS sufferer. Clinton is not alone in evoking familiarity; he just does it better than anyone else. The only people who might challenge him for that distinction are the TV-talk-show hosts. There was a lot of comment this year about how TV talk shows had changed American politics. They did it not by providing a new forum but by setting a tone. We are all hosts and guests now.
The religion of familiarity has problems. The first is that though it promises to be comprehensive, it in fact leaves a lot of people out. Suppose you have an unpopular disease? To hear Clinton and his peers tell it, the only reason anyone dies in America is because of AIDS, breast cancer or the occasional car accident. In fact, everyone reading these words will die some time or other, many of us quite painfully. If your manner of egress is not on the New Covenanters' list, don't expect any hugs before you go.
A second problem with our new religion is that some claims to be distressed will not be accepted by everyone. Clinton ran into this problem early in the transition when he repeated a campaign promise to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military by Executive Order. Gays see themselves as a wrongfully excluded minority, but the military sees homosexuals in its own ranks as % prejudicial to discipline. Clinton will probably set up a commission that will lead the Pentagon around to his view, but that is old-style jawboning, not the New Covenant.
The final problem is that show-and-tell, even if it makes everyone feel better, is not enough. Clinton may succeed in getting our attention. But to get results, he must navigate intractable realities such as limited resources and human nature. Suppose he cannot fund tax relief for the middle class out of levies on the rich? Suppose that even with welfare reform, poor families stay broken and city streets remain dangerous? There may be more in heaven and earth than is dreamed of in Bill Clinton's religion. If so, he has four years to change it -- before we get a chance to change Presidents.