herald-sun

Reich: Democrats in need of resuscitation By JENNIFER CHORPENING : The Herald-Sun jlc@herald-sun.com Mar 2, 2001 : 11:07 pm ET

DURHAM -- Unless Democrats distinguish themselves more from moderate Republicans, the party is a goner, said Robert Reich, secretary of labor under former President Clinton.

"If they simply try to mimic the Republicans, then they shall fail and, more important, we shall fail," he said at Duke University Friday. "The Democratic Party, in many respects, is dead."

The new Democratic Party that Reich envisions should embrace the new economy but also support people trying to escape poverty, he said. Such support includes more money for health care, child care and job training.

He invoked the Progressive movement of the early 20th century, "creating a more humane economy without freezing the old jobs, without going backwards."

In the talk attended by about 150 at Duke’s Sanford Institute, Reich castigated Clinton for listening too much to now-disgraced adviser Dick Morris and moving toward the political center during his second term. He also attacked his former boss for giving up on reforming health-care insurance after a first plan failed in Congress. People without insurance increased from 38 million to 45 million during Clinton’s two terms, he said.

"Clinton sought to reposition the Democrats, to use a market term," Reich said. Democrats successfully marketed stands of toughness on crime and welfare, fiscal responsibility and openness to free trade.

"None of these are traditional Democratic themes. We needed to pre-empt the Republicans by playing catch up. But was it wise public policy? Was it wise for the country?" he asked.

Free trade was good for the country, he said, but it didn’t support American workers seeking better jobs as companies moved their production overseas. Welfare reform remains untested by recession and massive unemployment. Saving Social Security is more important than cutting taxes, which Democrats seem to be quietly accepting, he said.

In 10 years "tens of millions of baby boom bodies will be corroding at once, and we’re not going to go quietly," he said.

Reich served under Clinton from 1993 to 1997 and counts among his accomplishments an increase in the minimum wage, a crackdown on sweatshops, implementation of the Family and Medical Leave Act, and helping states fund "one-stop career centers." He’s taught at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and is now a professor of economic and social policy at Brandeis University.

Reich also complained that Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, should not have publicly endorsed Bush’s tax cut proposal.

"To me, that was way overstepping the boundaries of his expertise and role. He should not be saying that ‘I don’t trust the political process to use the surplus in the public’s interest,’" Reich said.

Americans support polices that help people, such as a minimum-wage increase, Reich said. But he couldn’t at first convince some Clinton officials of that, he said.

Reich said he asked Morris to do a survey.

"His eyes lit up. And 24 hours later — I don’t know how he did these surveys, whether all he did was survey his family — 85 percent were in favor of an increase. He was astounded. Everyone in the White House was very surprised," Reich said. "There’s definitely a cynicism in Washington that matches the public cynicism about Washington."

In questions from the audience, a woman asked who would implement a new vision for the Democratic Party.

"Vision and orientation are closely aligned," Reich said. "It can’t come from above. There’s no Jesse Ventura or Sen. [John] Edwards or a great political consultant. It must be a political movement.

"If you wait for Washington, you’re waiting for nothing."

Reich was finishing up a tour promoting his new book, "The Future of Success."

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2001

Answers

I don't think the Democratic party is a gonner at all. They are liberals and as such need a party that targets their particular beliefs and desires. I think what is happening right now is simply that they are so upset and disenchanted with the last 8 years of the Clintons, both of them, that Bush looks like a breath of fresh air. Give it a little more time. The liberals will return to their old ways, count on it. The conservative philosophy is not for them, no.

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2001