Bill Clinton "repeatedly ate the right's lunch at election time"
-- in which alternative universe did this occur, James? In the
universe where I was living:
Clinton won the 1992 election with 43% of the popular vote
against George Bush, who most definitely was not "the
right."
The backlash against Clintonian misrule fueled the historic
1994 GOP congressional sweep.
Clinton was re-elected in 1996 with 49% of the popular vote
against Bob Dole, who was only slightly more "right" than Bush had
been.
The sole claim to a Clintonian victory was the 1998 midterm
backlash against the impeachment, which still was not enough,
however, to regain Democratic control of the Congress.
Where I come from, that doesn't count as eating the right's
lunch. Clinton was arguably the worst thing that happened to the
Democratic Party since LBJ.