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The Cost of Political Enmity
At the core of Clinton’s address was a meditation on the transformation of political opponents into existential enemies. He spoke with a palpable sorrow about the “permanent scars” left by a decade of hyper-polarization. To Clinton, who spent his presidency perfecting the art of “triangulation” and finding common ground with figures like Newt Gingrich, the modern refusal to compromise represents a catastrophic failure of civic duty. He warned that when disagreement becomes a reason for hatred, the foundational “glue” of democracy begins to dissolve.
