Susan Margolis in the San Francisco Chronicle, March 1, 1993:

Remember, near the end of Casablanca, when Ingrid Bergman and her husband ask Humphrey Bogart to give them exit visas so they can escape to safety and keep working to defeat the Nazis?

...Right now, according to recent polls, three quarters of Americans are Ingrid Bergman and her husband. We've all got our personal fights and fortunes to consider, but Bill Clinton, our Bogart, holds everybody's exit visas—his economic plan—which could free us from dictatorship of the deficit and possibly lead to a happy ending...

Maybe, just maybe, Clinton is everything he seems to be: a man disciplined and smart enough to have figured out what he thinks will work and strong enough to be able to take that plan to the people and admit that without their support, he'll fail. In other words, a man comfortable enough with his own power to share his power with the rest of us.

But is he powerful enough to overcome our cynicism? It will be tempting for us to adopt Russ [sic] Limbaugh's glibness, focusing on what's wrong with him and how we don't like the way his plan will touch our lives. Or we can take that leap of faith.

Remember how Casablanca ends? Bogart's power over Bergman and her husband ennobles him. He surprises everybody by deciding to send them off together. He even recommits himself to fighting the good fight. And why? Because as he says at the movie's end, otherwise, his life doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

Well, we're living in the '90s and not the '40s. Clinton is Bogart, minus the cigaret and trench coat. Times have changed, styles have changed. But only one man holds the exit visas. And unless we're willing to sacrifice, his presidency won't amount to a hill of beans.

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