gone forever and that for ~'L.'r to regain a position of national prominence and political power, it must reinvent itself. Therein lies the problem: the various factions within the GOP span the ideological spectrum and many predict that the coming struggle to define the party might rip it apart. Conservatives, evangelicals and moderates all think they know how to bring the American people back into the Republican fold. The question is: Who's right?
(continued on page 4) In the Mainstream of American Thought ...
n loday's world, everyone has an opinion. Be it the righl I wing Republicans or the lefl-wing Democrats, the voices thai are heard seem to come loudest from the fringes of American political thought. Not anymore. The Ripon Forum seeks to go beyond unrealistic ideologies and represents a vo ice for those in the mainstream MONEY IN POLITICS of America. After all, it's people like you who elect our leaders and are affected by our public policies. Whether it 's di scuss ion on what's really wrong with the federal government or a discussion on the realignment of our political system , Th e Forum has it all. C------i lOY ES! Send me The Ripon Forum for the coming year for onty $18! 1 I (students, people in the military service and Peace Corps volunteers pay only $9) I I Name: I IAddress: I I I I· ------I I City: State : Zl P: I
I You may FAX your subscription card [0 (202) 543-9237. I lOr mai l illO The Ripon Forllm. 700 Second Slreet NE. Wash in gton. D.C. 20002 I L ______~ TABLE OF CONTENTS
COVER STORY GOP PO I.lTICS The GOP in '93 ...... 4 The Other Bill...... 16 Ripon Ediior David FJISCJl S looks allhe GOP and why il Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld is cllllin8 toxes and social IIO W cOllsislS ollour vel}' differemfactiolls. programs, bill wi/f illlml his stale orOl/lld?
PROFILES AND PERSPEC IlVES Campaign itl Crisis ...... 19 Jin' Pinkerton ...... 7 Bob Milchell illl'e.wigates why more challenger money If Blish's policy advisor kllew how 10 win the '92 eleelioll, could have meam all extra GOP cO l/gressman in why could,,', he gel anyone 10 lisle,,? the I03rd Congress. EYE ON THE ADMINISTRATION Bill Cli7lton, You Are Closet Evangelicals...... 29 Fred Kellogg examilles the evangelical movement and ils No Jack Kenlp ...... 10 misrepresefllatiofl by political Christian fundamentalists. AI leas/ as far as IIrbal/ poficy is concerned. DOIIOVOII Rypkema reports. BOO K REVI EWS Bill & Ai· Riponesque? ...... 12 Strange BedfeUows ...... 20 William M cKemie slIggests that moderates mighl have 10 Palll Boyer's When Time Shall Be No More. share Ihe cellter of the polilicallpeclrum. Labor Leader's Loss...... 22 H UMOR Robert B. Reich's book, The Work of Nations: Preparing Bill's Big Day ...... 14 Ourselves for 21st Cent ury Capitalism, has good ideas bl/t Humorisl Harry Phillll)S looks al l nallgurarioll Day. skimps 0/1 reality. ClinlO II style. DEPARTMENTS Opinion...... 28 Washington Notes & Quoles...... 26 1Vhat'.s ill a name: Mark Uncapher writes abom how and A Look atlhe New Moderates why moderates need 10 define themselves. The RIPON FORUM
EDITO R David A. Fuscus THE RIPON FORUM (JSN 0035-5526) is published bi-monthly by The Ripon Society. Contents :Ire copyrighted 1993 by The Ripon Society, Inc., 7C1?J Second Street, N.E .• Suite 100, Washington, D.C. ASSOC IATE EDITOR 20002 Mi mi Carter
PROoucnON EDITOR In the Ripon Forum, the publishers hope to provide a forum for fresh ideas, and a spirit of creative Ka thleen Halnon criticism and innova tion in public policy. Manuscripts :md photogf3phs are SOlicited, but do not represent the views of the Forum unless so stated. EDITORIAL BOARD Peter Smith Sleven A. Messinger Second class postage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices. Postmaste r: send ean Hayes address changes to Ripon Forum, 709 Second St reet. N.E., Suite 100, Washington, D.C. 20002. Al fred W. Tate Steven Klinsky Subscription rates: $18 per year, $9 for students, servicemen, Peace Corps, Vista and other volunteers Allison RajaJ:t and $30 for institutions. Overseas, plcase add $8. Please a110w five weeks for address change.
IN1T.RJOR ART The Ripon Society. Inc., Peter Smith, president, is a research and policy organization whose mem R. J. Matson bers are business. academic and profession.1! men and women. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with National Associate memlxrs throughout the United Slales. Ripon is supported by chapter I!;======~d~u~e~'~, ~n~d~i' v~id~u~'~l ~co~n~'~rib~u~tions. and revenues from its publications. COVER II STORY I THE GOP IN '93 or the last twelve years, Republicanism in America has been a cut and dried F affair; the GOP has had all illcumbellt presidellt to suppress ideology and make Ihe various factions ill the party gel along, key lIaliollal political positions like the chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) have been dictated from 1600 Penllsylvania Aven ue. Because of this, there has been little room for the competing factiolls to fig ht with each other over the direction of the party, after all, all incumbellt president sets the policies/or both the lIarioll alld the parry lhat he leads.
Can RepUblicans Since the d eva.~ t ati n g loss of George Bush marshalthcir forces and makea bid for intellect ual last November. many Republicans arc finding conlrol of the party. Several new think tanks and come together to themselves without a rudder to set the course for political action committees have been fonned with win a national ideology and party agenda. This situation has obvious agendas. the foremost being the creation election in 1996? lent ilSeifto some harsh words between factions of !X)liti cal support for the 1996 presidentia l wi th moderates blaming the loss of the White nomina tion. House on George Bush's finn embrace of h.. rd A look at the various factions and whatlhey core conscrvati ves and right wingers screaming are doing: that Clinton won bccauscof a Republican fa ilure to embrace conserva ti sm in all of its Econolnic Conservatives mani festations. This wing of the Republican party is best George Bu sh was defeat ed "not for typified by fonner Secretary of Housing and 19% conserv:uive ide.. ls. but for the inability to president ia l candidate Jack Kemp. Kemp and his prac tice conservative ideals" s:tid Paul \V eyrich all ies concentrate mainly on economic issues :tnd recently. head of the Frec Congress Foundmion have less fcarof the deficit than more mainstream and a leading spokesman for thc conservati ve conservatives like Senator Phi l Gramm of Texas. movement. Many thought thatthc first ball ic ror Kemp is unabashedly running for the 1996 GOP control or the Republican party would be fought nomination :md recently formed a new think tank over the election of th e first post-Reagan/Bush and political groupcallcd Em!X)wer America. He RNC chaimlan in January. Early fuvontes for hasbccnjoined in thiscffort by Vi n Weber. fonner the post were Lynn Martin. Bush's Secretary of Rcag:m SecfCtary of Education Bill Benneu and L...1bor and a leading moderate. and Vin Weber, fomler U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. a fonncrcongrcssman from Minnesota anda top "This organizati on is going to have a !X)int conscrvative thinker. However. much to the and an attitude. We' re not going tosimplycogitate. surprise of pundits expecting an internec ine we're going to agitate." said Benneu at the group's war. both cundidates dropped out of the race kick-off press conference. leavi ng no big name Republ icuns to banle it out By David A. Fuscus During the past few years. econo mic forthe!X)sl. Interestinglyenough. th e new RNC conservatives h.. vc tx.'C1l one of the leading idc.1 chairman. Haley Barbour. has said that although factories within the GOP and while m:my in the OUl'id A. FIIJcu.f is he is opposed to abortion. he is a big tent 'he Editor of party don't agree with all of their issues. most RepUblican. He re cently told Th e New York 'lie RilJO" Forum. Re publicans recog ni ze that themes like Times thul if Republicans insisted on pushing a empowerment . tess governm ent . educ:ttional social -value based agenda " that they ought to choice and free market problem so lving will have their heads examined." eventually become pan of the mess.1ges that a new Instead of an early fi ght for control of the RepUblican pany will begin broadcasti ng in its RNC, RepUblicans in all camps have dec ided to llie RI PON FOR UM 4 February/March 1993 coming effon to unsem President Clinton. the religious ri ght was onlhc wane aftcr thc 1989 demise of Jerry TIle alliance of Bennell and Kemp to found Empower Falwell's Moral Majority. However. a new and much more America is especially interesting because of the presidential effecti ve organi7.ation. The Christian Coalition, has sprung up ambitions of both men. Al the very least. lhis group represcnls under the leadership of Pm Robertson. a strong and fomlidable coalition within the Republican party While Ihe Christian Coalition isn't the onl y political organi which wil l certai nl y be a favorite horse in the mce fOf the 1996 zat ion wilh ils roots in evangelical Christian it y. it is by far the presidential nomimnion. largest and most technicall y sophisticated. With a membership II's obvious from the early statements from Empower ba... e in excess of 350,000 and chapters in all fifty states, Pm America's founders that they will begin trying to appca1 to a Robertson is seeking to elevate Ihe political activity of his follow broad range of Republicans by wal king the fence between ers wilh Ihcobjec tiveofplac ing a "Christian in the While House" divisive social issues such as abortion and homosex ual ri ghts. by the end of Ihe decade. When Weber recently said Ihatlhese issues were "the two mosl Much to the dismay of many conservatives and moderates. divisive and contentious issues in Amcrican politics. I would the religious ri ght has become a powerful force inlhe Republican urge thai we not allow this organi7..1lion to become divided on party by supplying shock troops Ihal have won election afler the oosis of those issues," many wonder whether that would elect ion. By identifying voters who volc on thc basis of value placate either pro-choice moderates or the reli gious ri ght. issues. The Chri stian Coalition has been able 10 put togcther a highly sophisticated and effecti ve grassroots network. The Religious Right and Movement The cultural conservatives who make up the religious ri ght Conservatives Many in Amcricalhoughtlhatlhe political involvcmcnt of continued 011 next page
February/March 1993 5 The RIPON FORUM are interested in value based issues such as aoor concerned about the ocficit and tolerant on social tion. school prayer. homosexual ri ghts and censor· issues. Many moderates are pro-choice and be· ship of literature that they find offensive. lieve that individuals should dec ide the construc· The alliance between cultural conservatives tion ofpcrsonal valuesasopposcd to having values who make up the religious ri ght and movement imposed by government or other outside forces. conservati ves is a natural one because both groups While elec ted moderates like Senator Arlen believe in extreme positions. Over the past several Specter of Pennsylvania and Congresswoman months. thai relationship has become closer th.1n Nancy Johnson of Connecticut finnly supported ever. President Bush in his re·electi on bid. rank and file Paul Weyrich is a key all y of Robertson and moderate vOiers ned the Bush camp and made up was a main speaker at Christian Coalition's last a large portion of the "Clinton Republicans" who nat ional conference. The Road to Victory 11 . !nthe hel ped the Democrats win. past several months. the themes of conservatives Many mOOcrates fe lt that once George Bush like Weyrich have begun to parallel the social was in the White House that he would return to his agenda of Pat Robertson and OIher politicall y ac roots in their wing of the Republican party. How· tive evangelicals. ever.as themonlhs grew to years following Bush's 1988 win. most modera tes were disillusioned. They S.1W a President who they considered their "The final straw f or moderates came at the own veto bill after bill solely because it contained national convelltioll in Houstoll when extremist language offensive to the nation'S pro-life move ment: they saw him break his "no new taxcs" cOllservatives call trolled both Ih e platform alld the pledge and they saw him court the reli gious ri ght . tOile of the convention." nle final straw for moderates came at the national convention in Houston when extremist cOflservativescontrolled both the platform and the During a recent speech at the Heritage Founda tone of the convention. tion in Washington. Weyrich spoke about his vi Since the election. many moderates licked sion ora new Republican coalition to win back the their wounds and began to realize that ifthcy are to White House. "The coming campai gn will ha ve a influence the com ing agenda of the Republican greater emphasison valuesquestions ... thesc issues party. they have to be beller financed and we ll have to be the centerof any new coalition. We have organized. Sever.II groups have sprung up to do to get back to real mOrality. to accountabilit y. to this incl uding the Republican Majority Coalition people who at least pray every da y so thai God will and the Unity Ptalfonn. More established organi guide them ... We are in decline because we arc not zationssuch as the Ri pon Society (the parent group leading moral li ves." of this publication) are realizing that the y need to A panicularly interesting project run by Paul compete wi th the ri ght wing on an intellectual and Weyrich and supported by the Christian Coalition politi cal level. It is no longer enough JUSt to is National Empowerment Television (NET). This espouse policy ideas. but for moderates to be new communications network broadca~L'i conser succcssf u I. they have to successfull y articulate and vative issue based programming to satellitc dishes puttogcthcrthe political organi zalion necessary to across the nation and is targeted towards conserva influence elections. tive and religious acti vists. The mission of NET is At a recent moderate organiza ti onal confer to supply acti vists wi th current and useful infonna ence hosted by the Republican Mainstrc.1m Com lion to help them organize politicall y on a local minee in Washington. Peler Smith. a fonner mem level. As Weyrich says. "when we ach ieve INETI berofCongress from Vennont and the president of in all 50 states. we wil l have put together a national Ripon. said. " If we intend to move the Republican movement again ." Ralph Reed. the executi ve di party towards the tolerance thatlypifies the beSI of rector of the Christian Coali tion. sits on the board our party. then moderates need to pull together. of NET and new Coalition chapters are required to It's not enough to JUSt be involved in party politics. subscri be to the service. individuals and organ izations need to work to gcther and playa bi gger role in defining the va lues Modcratcs of the Republican party. And that means winning elections." Moderate Republicans have long been consid ered one of the most populous segments of the Republican party and the least we ll organized. Generally. moderates arc fi scall y conservative. GOP. continued 011 p. 31
The RIPON FORUM February/March 1993 A Conversation PROFILES With Jim Pinkerton AND PERSPECTIVES Did This Man Have the Answer?
ames P. Pinker/Oil might hlll'C been called CI policy wonk aI a lIe ry young J age. When he was Dil ly 20 lind a soon-fo-be graduate of Slon/ord Ulli rersil }, . Pinker/O Il worked for b011t fhe Reagan/or Presidell' and Reagan Bush campaiglls ill /979-1980. Aflel' graduolioll, he weill slraighl /o the Wh ile House Office of Policy Del'e/opmelll (lnd Ihe IVhife Iiouse Office 0/ Polilical Affairs. After three years (1/ 'he While 1I0 1/fit', Pinkerton weill back 10 the cam/)oig" alld jOilU'd Reagan-Bush' 84 as Ihe Polilical Staff Direclor. Afler th eir success 11/01/011. Pinker/Oil 8m'" /II) thi- IVhile Ilollse and at the age of 27 became director of research for George Blish's polirical OCI;OIl cOn/lllillee. Fund For America' of FU/I/re . 11/ F ebrllary of 1987, Pinkerton assumed the same rolefor the George Bllshfor President and Blish-Quayle '88 campaigns. Elation sl/eeess prol'ed beneficial for the yOllng Pinker/on who was SWO/"ll in as Oel'lItyAs.'iistatll to tile Presh/emfor Policy Planning. After three more years at Ihe Wllile /louse where he tried fa lalll/ch his domes/ie policy plall, /he "New Paradigm," with lillie .meeess, lie again left 10 join the Pre.'iidellt 's re-electioll ('all/Wligll (IS CouI/selor to Blish-Quayle '92. Now a Sellior Fellow at the 101111 Locke Foulldmioll based ill Raleigh. Nortll Caro/iM, Pin kerlon talked to The Ripon Forum abO/II his lime at Ih(' While /lol/se, Presidenl Georgi' Blish's call1/Jaigllfor re-eleclioll, lind the future of Ihe Republican pal'/y.
RIPON FORUM: In a recent ar1 icle in The New R epub emropic tre nd was stronger than our :Ibili ty to consistentl y sum lic. you wrote that the Bush Administ ralion existed in a stale of up a "new ideas" agenda. "intellectual negati veness." Do you think George Bush lostthc RIPON FORUM: You were an insider both in the '88 presidency beC:luse of mistakes made at the campaign level or Bush c:lmpaign and the '92 campaign. Wh;1I were the key was it just the mood of the American people? differe nces that you saw betw(,'C n the two of them? And what MR. P INKERTON: I think victory has about I,(X)) were the differences between George Bush. the pure candidate fathers and defeat has 1.000 explainers. I always felt that the of '88. and the Prcsident/c;;Uldidatc of '92? overriding trend that we had to fight against. throughout the MR. PI NKERTON: In '88 we had a united par1y, and we Bush Adm inistrati on, was the fac t that the period from 1980 to managed to put economics front and center, which I think is 1992 was the longest stretch that one party held the White House oftentimes the Republicans' strongest suit. or certainly perhaps since 1952. Usually the rule had been 8 years or 4 years in the ))cmocrats' biggest vulnerabi lity. In '92 we shallercd our power. It ·s a cliche thm the second terms for presidents tend to coa lition, with the breakingofthctax pledge: that was foremost. be SOr1 of disastrous too. wilh Lyndon Johnson and Richard Any electi on where you have someone like Ross Perot who gets Nixon's second term and so on. 19 million votes, you know that the house of cards of politics has In many ways, the Bush presidency WiL'; a third Republican been thrown up in the air and it's desti ned to rearrange itself. tenn, and President Bush made a great effort early on to They're all still flunering dow n. establish some differences and some useful evolutions from (he Reagan years, but ultimately Ithink history overcame us and the conti"ued 0" "ext page
February/March 1993 7 The RIPON FOR UM PlNKERTON, continued/rom previous page we would lose the ncxt 10 presidential clections. Thc challcngc has got to be to find issues that unite us as opposed to divide us We al l were slow torealize how much the post-Cold Warer.! and focus on thcm. I th ink all Rcpublicansarc"conservativc"on had changcd thc political arena -- il wasn't just winni ng a war, it !!Conornics. was thc end of a whole cra, it was thc end of a disciplinc on Wc should be focu sing on issues, for examplc, like what's politics that was so much a part of our li vcs for45 ycars prior to going on in Ncw York Cit y, whcre they are not only trying to that because it wa,>cvcrYlhi ng. lt was nolhing in tcnns ofday- to im pose a curriculum of AIDS education on first and second day rcali7.a ti on from 1947. say, to 1991 or '92, gmdcrs,:md so on , butthcn thcy're fi ring the local school board In a prcviouscampaign. an incumbent president could havc mcmbers who are opposing th is. Rcpublicans oughllO look at said 10 his challenger. or challengcrs, "Okay. guys, te ll me the Ihis almost as adocenlml izalion issue as well, that it 'soulmgcous that a bunch of centralir.cd burcaucmts arc dictating 10 ncighbor hood peoplc how their kids get educated, "They looked at Bush and they said, 'IJ Now to me, those kinds of dilemmas and similar crises of we reelect this guy, nothing is going to school strike.,> and collapsing C'Jucation around the country arc a result of the ovcrpoli ticizalion of schools. You take one big change.' That might not entity, and,of course, everybody from the Christian Coalitiorl on be aJair statement, but that's the ri ght to ACT UP on the left is going to want to have a pil'Ce what they thought." of it , so they're going to come to blows, and you're going to wind up with a sort of ovcrpolicit ized mishmash of different rules and regulations. The on ly thing that'S guaranteed to happen is that no kid is going to get an education. diffcrence between an SS-18 and SS- 19. Tell me thc last time So the answer is wc've gOt 10 "dcsovieti ze" the schools, I that you thought seriously about what an arms control tfC.1t y thinkthm'ssomelhing thm most Republicans could mlly around. oughl to look like. or how would you deal wi th the latest Ea... t We could then go and S.1y. "Listen, we Republicans have really West CheckpoimCharlic\victn:un kindofcrisisT And it would studicdcarefully what President Cli nton says, President Cli ruon be unlikcly that those guys.espccinll y Perot. wit h no govcrnment says that the most important long-tcnn issue in this count ry we expericnce. and a few ecccntric theories about U.S, foreign face is an educated workforce. It 's not j ust a questi on of deficits policy, and Clinton, the govemorof a small stale, would have had and so on and so on. good.cffectivc,credibleanswers. That would havebecn a major If we agree 011 that -- and we Republ icans I think should - point in our favor, but it was all gone. The polls showed that then we should say, okay, that's the chal lenge, what 's the best nobody cared about forcign policy in '92. They wanted 10 hear solution? Is the best solution j ust to go to the Nati onal Education about the economy. The Republican party actually did rc:lSQIl ably well in '92 below the presidential levcl and gaincd nine House scats. RIPON F OR UM: But that was far less than anybody had expectcd to win. MR, PINKERTON: You're right, but it wasn't adisasler. It was not a 1964 typedis..1ster orn '74 typedisastcr. My fecling aboullhis election all the wny through was the count ry was with the Rcpublicanson big issues, they just didn't know where Bush was. RIPON FORUM: What are Ihe issucs thc Republican party must look at and articulmc in order to gain back power in this country? MR. PINKERTON: First and foremost. the Rcpublicans have to take Ihe posture that wc hope Climon succeeds. We're Americans firs!. It's not so much Ihat wc want powcr for ourselves if we can hclp C linton makc a bettcr country, Then we'll want to help him. !fClinton can't makc a bcllercountry and the country turns to us, we need to have an attractive agenda. We've got to get our fcct back on the ground on economics. We've got 10 be the party of limited govemmcnt.lowcrtaxes and lower spending, I ccrtainl y support the late Lee Atwatcr's "big tcnt" theory on abonion, Association and say. " Hcre's a IO-percenl mise for all your At the same lime. I lh ink we've got to avoid thc dangcr of mcmbers. Just keep doing exactly what you're doing. Ncvcr just turning this intoanintcr-partyconnict. II wouldbc verycasy mind the fact that wc spend half a trillion dollars in education. for us to split the Republ ican party in two, if we wanted to, :md whic h is more than any other country in thc world. and our The RIPON FORUM 8 February/Marc h 1993 students are 21 s1 in tcrms of ac hicvemcnl. We just want to give guys want, hcrc's what I want. I'm the Prcsident.1 decide. I got you guys a IO-percent raise and hope for the bes!"? That's not elected, let's go forward together," If we don't lind some leader going to do il. like that. we will have trouble. RIPON FORUM: What you say is ve ry interesting RIPON .'ORUM: Any speculation of who that leader because yo u're speaking to issues that most Republicans would might be? agree with. Bc it moderates. conservati ves. evangelicals. what MR. PINKERTON: I th ink there is lot s of talent out ever type it is. Recently. Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress there. but I point out that as latc as the summer of 1932. Walter Foundation gave a speech at the Heriwge Foundation where he Lippman was describing Fronklin Roosevelt as the guy without spoke for the IIrst 13 seconds as an economic conservative. and then went on to the agenda that he thought th e conservative movement should be pursuing. As a leader of the New Ri ght. Weyrich believes Rcpublicans should focus on issucs that are almost entirely value based. 00 you think that all Republicans we'll come to an agrecment on an agenda or will the party just degenerate into factional fighting? Certainly. if we start talking up the famil y values and other value based issues the wa y the Bush campaign did, many moderates will go crazy. MR. PINKERTON: The best way to have famil y values is to have individuals believe they thought of it th emse lves, and maybe they did . I'll give you an example. I think by most measurements, Malcom X, as he is now remcmbered, would qualify asa family values conservative . Hesaid " Oon 'tlook for handout s. don 't ask the white man forth is. just go out there and lake care of yourself and get a job," and so on. I think that is a stripping away of thc rac ial hostility. History suggests that's thc way it works. Thc biggcst single thing that solved thc undcrclass problcm of ISO years ago was self hclp and thc tcmperance movement , a lot of it religiously inspired. These were movements that came from within. If we sit and preach famil y values topcople. they·re just going to spend muchqualification who very much wants to be president. As late more time studying our moti ves and less time trying to absorb the as the summer of 1980. people were describing Rc.1gan as some message. And if wc create a system where people arc empow crn zy nut actor who was going to blow up the world. So it would ered , where they have choice, where they ha ve jobs, whcre thcy be foolish forme IO sit here and try to project 3 ycars ahcad. Ijust have ownership and equity in the system -- I think famil y values think that if the Republican party can create an attracti ve sort of will take care of itself. issues constituency and attract a coalition. and bearing in mind RIPON FORUM: But Republicans arestill going to have that history is with us in terms of the great trend towards the decommunization and desociali7..ation and deburcaucrmization of the world, I think somebody will pop up. "We've got to avoid the danger ofjust RIPON FORUM: You spoke earlier about supporting Bill Clinton. We have some severe national problems now, and turtling this into an interparty everyone is hopeful that Climoll puts forth an agenda that solves conj/ict. It would be very easy for us some of those problems. or at least to begin the process. 00 you to split the Republican Party in two ... " see any role for the Republi can party in helping Bill Clinton, or are we just too politicized? MR. PINKERTON: I think we'll have to sec what tnc problem of certain segments of thc party pushing a valucs Clinton does. I think Clinton's dilemma is thai in December of based agenda and other segments wanting to focus entirely on an 1991. he wasc\carly vyiog as the " new ideas" Democrat. About economy based agenda. I used Paul Weyrcich as an example this time last year. he spoke to the Democratic State Chairmen in because he speaks for much of the conservati ve movement and Chicago and just blew all their socks off with talk of redefining he is addressing a stric tl y value based agenda. It's thc same type government wilh new ideas. Then a coupleoflhings happened. of thing that Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed arc saying at the First, Paul Tsongas got in the race, and he was appealing in Christian Coalition. How do we bring everybody together and a different way 10 the same constituc ncy. And then Gennifer avoid an interpany war'? R owers. And Clinton was jusl completely derailed for a while. MR. PINKERTON: The Republican Party, post Bush. is looking for a lcader of Franklin Roosevelt-like or Reagan-like PI NKEHTON, co"linlled on p. 25 stature. within the party. someone that says. '" kn ow what yo u February/Marc h 1993 9 The RIPON FORUM CLINTON WATCH
The Clinton Urban Policy: Is There One?
mong Ihe charges and countercharges education. infrastructure. housi ng. Certainly A which pcJVaded the 1992prcsidenli The RIPON FORUM 10 February/Marc h 199) number of areas. Understanding cities is not among them. To Particularly in times of increa<>ing public deficits and high author a prescription for "preparing ourselves for 2 1st century construction unemployment we simply cannot afford that. capitalism" (the subtitle of Reich's The Work of Nations) with 3. Remove the passive activity loss limitati ons and income barely a reference to the role of cities in that context demonstrates caps for investors in the rehabilit;;ltion of older and histori c either a ph ilosophical myopia or a pol itical bias than c;m not serv e structures. Prior to Ihe 1986 Tax Reform AC l.the rehabi litation the future of cities well. I:IXc redit had eamcd its place as one of the most effecti ve urban Even one who ought to be demanding a cohesive policy revi talization tools ever created. Billions of private sec tor toward cities. Chicago mayor Ri chard Daley. responded to dollars were reinvested in our central ci ties. Because of its Clinton's questi on. "what should the federal govemment do to effectiveness the rehab tax credit was of the only "tax shelter" help Chicago?" by saying. " Have no urban policy." Clinton tools retained after tax refonn. However the passive activity apparently heard and heeded. limitations and the income caps have resulted in a 75 percent It is no accident that there was not an "urban cluster" in the decline in re habilitation investment. transilion planning process. Clinton is limiting th e issues to be 4. Direct that ten percent of all Community Development tackled early in the Adm inistration and those seem to be jobs. Block Grants monies be allocated to non-profit entities. This is education. and health care. The onl y posi ti ve signs for lhose currently done with the low income housing credits. Over the concerned wit h an overall policy for cities is the se lection of I:LS tten years it has been the non-profit sector that has been the Henry Cisneros. former mayor of San Antonio as HUn Secre most effect ive in identifying and responding 10 urban problems tary and the transition work of Frederico Pei'ia . fonner mayor of on the local level. Non-profit economic development Denver. During their lerms of office both demonstrJted great organi zations. housing groups, and ncighborhood associations creativity in the management of their communities and a fu nda ought to be provided part of community development funds to menlal understanding of the nature of cities. Each aJ so garnered spur their continuing innovation. considerable Republican support wh ile in office. The ultimate influence either will have in the Clinton administr.lIion has yelto be see n. "Defilling approach es to crime, health What docs this lack of an overall urban policy by the Clinton administration mean for moderate Republicans? It creates two care, alld education as the Ilational opportunities. one intermediate term and the other short term. In 'urball policy' is like callillg membership the intermediate term moderate Republicans could cre:ll e a comprehensive urban policy. As iltook Nixon to go to China. in NATO, troops to Somalia, alld aid to perhaps it can be Republicans who can disregard the assump Egypt the Ilatiollal foreigll policy.... " tions and approaches of the past and define a new role for our urban areas. In the November/Dccember issue of The Ripon Forum Congressman Boehlert urged ..... the revival of the Tide water Conference ... to discuss and debate issues of long range 5. The consolidation of financial institutions will continue significance ... " A comprehensive urban policy shou ld be among apace and onc of the side effects of this consolidation is the those issues. redundancy of banking facil it ies. often in urban areas. Bank In the short run there arc a num ber of proposals that buildings arc often difficult to reuse for market driven fun cti ons Republicans in Congress should attach to whatever urban - offi ces. retailin g. housing. But they can be effectively related legislation the Clinton administration proposes. The ad.1ptcd for public and quasi-public functions - day care. strength of these amendments is that they are simple. they will meeting fa cilities senior celllers. court rooms. etc. In the appli have an immediate and positive impact on the revitali7..ation of cations for acquisitions. mergers, and branch openings and our cities ye t have negligible effect on the federal deficit. closings, financial insti tutions should be rcquired to submit I. Din.'Ct the General Services Administrati on and the disposition plans for their redundant facilities. Approvals and Postal Service to immediately stop their pattem of departure Community Reinvcstment Ac t credit shou ld be given to those from central cities. The relocati on of those public institutions institut ions who convey these excess faci lities to public or non has had dramatic adverse effcct on other jobs. property values, profit entities. use of public transportation. retail sales. and other economic In summary. there is no Clinton urban policy. There is components of cities. We can no longer afford the fiscal si mply a picceme:11 packaging of issues masquerading as an irresponsibility of having the expenditure of scarce public re overall approach. Given the intellectua l :md philosophical bent sources serving only one purpose. By keeping federal govern thus far evidenl. it is unlikely that acomprehensive urban policy mentactivities in the ci ti es weare doubling the useoftaxpayers' wi ll emerge soon. This provides great short and intermediate funds - providing the government service itsclf and helping to term opportunities for moderale Republ icans to begin designing sustain struggling urban areas. an overall urban policy for the future_ and to enact simple and 2. Repeal the application of the Davis-Bacon Ac t in inner effecti ve measures to aid cities today. • city projects. The prevailing wage rcquiremenlsof Davis-Bacon often add twent y to fort y percent to the overall cost of projec ts. February/March 1993 11 The RIPON FORUM CLINTON WATCH Bill and AI's Excellent Adventure ,1. Then Bill Cl inton Clinton-Gore era? After all . many of the new VVand AI Gore plac Administration 's aims sound similar. ed their hands on a his First a word must be said about George Bush: tori cal bible on January he never had the s The RIPON FOR UM 12 February/March 1993 why not? Hardly is there an issue thaI strikes morc directly at Clinton's "rein venting governme nt" ethic. He is comple tely improving the wa y government works. correct to embrace the themes of author David Osborn e, whose Cons ider also the federal defi cit. The nation is in the hole book Reinl'el1lill g Goverl1mel1l : How the Entrepreneurial S,)iril approximately $300 billion annually. Th::ll fi gure docs nOl lakc is Trans/orming the Public Sector focuses upon a number of into account refinancing Reso lution Trust Corp .. which needs an creative concepts. additional $40 billion soon. For instance, Mr. Osborne and President Clinton both speak YCI despite thai glaring budget hole. President Clinton of "preventive government." That means striking at root causes advocated spending $20 billion a yc.'U' on domestic investment. before they spring into full blown problems. His list included rebuilding roads, creating high tech networks. Moderate GOP governors William Weld and Pete Wilson guarantccing college loans for nat ional service, and expanding also have picked up on this idea. and pushed Massachusetts and community-based polici ng. C:llifomia, respectively. for increased funding for early inter To be surc.somcofthcsc nccdsarc worthwhile. But howdo vention programs like prenatal care and Head Start, If you can we pay for them? As far as I can tell, th ree options exisl: deep provide sufficient services to a child at an early age. then it budget culs, higher taxes on more than just those earning over OCco mes more likely that achild of limited economic means can S200,()(X) annually. and more deficit spending. focus on economic achievement. President Clinton is now formulating a new budget. bul until OtherOsbornian concepts include introducing competition ii's released lel's take candidate Clinton's propos.11 ..... During into government services, linking spending to results and creat the campaign, he o nl y suggested S4 billion in entitle ment spend ing governments that arc " fl ex ible. adaptable. quick to adjust ing refoons over the next four years. That's Ihe polit ical when conditions chan ge ." Since these concepts arc dear to equivalent of offering a crumb 10 a starving child. When the li beral·conservati ve hearts, why not be aggressive in finding entitlement pic is S636 billion annually. trimming S I billion a areas of commonality with thc ne w Clinton crew? year is irrelevant. If the reason is partisan Washington politics, which Ross Bill Clinlon also proposes saving $ 16 billion through re· Perot served a shO! against last year. then consider the mutuall y forming the RTC. That sounds nice, but it would mean recoup advantageous gains. Bill Clinton can be made to look good in ing one out of eve!)' four or fi ve dollars the thrift resolution assembling bipa11is.lIl coalitions, while being stopped from agency spends from now until its e xtinction in 1996. To put it appropriating essentially liberal Republican ideas. Moreover. Arkansas teons. that dog won' t hunt. GOP moderates can li nk themselves with a governing philoso At best. Bill Clinton's campaign budget cuts arc quasi phy. which is needed to prevent them from being associated with serious. That leaves him with on Iy one issue: :lbo11ion ri ghts. onl y two ot her options to pay In sum, the Clinton·Gore for his spending plans. My era will provide progressive hunch is that he extends his la x "It's not surprising that while boomers conservatives a challe nge. On increases to include wage earn like Bill Clinton and Al Gore believe apersonallevel, the new presi ers over. say. S80.1XX1 a year. dent is a likeable fe llow. He But it 's not clear that move in government to secure justice, leaves you with the sense that along with quas i-budget c uts they also wish to make government you are the o nl y person in the - would raise sufficient rev- room. That trait is natu ral. enue. more cost-effective." and ce11ainly a political gi ft. ThaI leaves the deficit. Bill C linton and Al Gore which is the political equiva- also possess first-rate minds, lent of an oil gusher: keep on tapping il and il keeps on spewing and they think conceptually. Those are pluses for them as well o ut money. But like oi1. the de fi cit is not a renewal resource. as the nation. To be sure .c a~tin g one's self as a "deficit hawk" L~ a bit like But it's not at a ll clear Bill Clinton will live most of his portrayi ng one's self as the "Church Lady" of Sall/rday Night presidential life in the political center. He will face !re mendous Live fame. Reproving errant sinners is never fun. But if being pressure from Congressional warlords. who love power and thus a centrist means being fi scall y conservative as well :t~ socially money and programs. It's qui tc likely Ihat Bil l Cli nt on ~w h ose liberal, then centrists in both parties should not hesitate to stepfal her's alcoholi sm enhanced his need to be liked - williry reprove President Clinton if deficit reducti on OCcomesa second · to plcase both cenuist and !raditionallibcrals. ary issue. As he tries to walk that line. centrists should be on guard: With Democrats like Lloyd Bentsen, Leon Panella and Bill Clinton may try to redefine the language of the poli tical Alice Ri vlin in key economic positions, perhaps that won't he the center. This is a man, after all, who loves Ihe sound of his own casco But the great threat of the Clinton Administration is that voice. II is thus the c ha lle nge of those who li ve in the center to four years from now .the nation will have swell bridgeswld super be !rue to themselves and honest with the new White House. If computer networks but enough debt to render such improve the Clinton Adm inistration can be made to stay in the middle. me nts mewlingless in terms of international competiti on. Bill and Al - and all Americans - can have an excellent Something moderates can and should foc us upon is Bill advent ure. • February/March 1993 13 The RIPON FORUM HUMOR II BY H.P. I t2'" n keeping with th is year's inaugural theme, " An American Reunion," e../ President Bi ll Clinton urged the entire nati on to SlOp by Washington on Janu ary 20. Those without hotel accommodations were cordiall y in vited to stay at the White House. The following was the intinerary: IJ' aHe-- Prcsidcnl-clect look a break from all night policy discussion. Jogs 10 Cleveland and back. Keeps mind occupied by reeling off as sorted IO-point plans lO exhausted Secret Ser vice agents. During rest Slop. learns ad vanced kung-fu and becomes the fi rst Rhodes Scholar to make it alllhc way through A I Gore 's book. o.·8tJ (Un- - Meet with scvcr.tl European ambassadors forbrcakfast31 McDonalds. Dul Ch Ircal. ? tUft. - Drop Socks off at th e vel. Remember 10 am appoi mmentto get Hillary dc-clawed . .9aoz, - Fulfilling pledge to appoint Republi cans to his administration, Clinton names 10hn Sununu as US pitbull-at -Iarge to the UN. Jerry " Moonbeam" Brown pushed for NASA admin istrator. Genni fer Flowers ru mored in line for Commerce Assistant Secretary for text iles and lingerie. ,9. . trJ7b- An open house at 1600 Pennsyl .!It7 /2noo n- - Aides to Vice President AI Gore lift vania A venue is abruptl y canceled after second and prop hi m upal the pod ium forswearing in . He noor collapscs under weight of several thousaod is then picked up and moved to VIP secti on. After visitors. several apparent miscues. eWe the Clintons. do solemnl y swear... ") Chief Justice Rehnquist ad By Harry Phillips / tJ. ..!I t7 tzwb - Arrive at Greyhound term inal ministers the oath of office to the new president. for trip to the Capitol. Box lunches from lIarr)' Phillips is a McDonalds. Dutch treat. U./~'A- - ln an e fro r1l o " l e t by-goncs bc by WashinglOlI -based wrile r gones. Sister Souljah is invited to sing nationa l / tJ. ../X§' tu/b - Police report busjac king under alld humorist anthem. AmlCostia Freeway. Marine One dispatched to pick up Clinton pany. Marine Two dispatched /'?'·2t7;Wn- - The new president begins his to free Republican pelS held hostage by Socks at inaugural address. vet clin ic. The RIPON FORUM 14 February/March 1993 .ru.e. ka<6 ~- Clinton is still fresh garden snlads: French vanilla or Royal talking. Committee organil.ers decide to begin Dutch chocolate frappe: li ght ly-sugared deep inaugural parade anyway. Half of audience baked apple torte. Canine pouche provided. frozen in place on west lawn of US Capitol. The other half debating whether to go home for cf;un- - Peler. Paul and Mary and other dinner or take in some sight-seeing while speech music groups heretofore thought to be de continues. One spectator overheard complain ceased highlight inaugural ball acti vities. ing before kneeling over dead. "we arc being Tijuana Brass. Ukranian dancers and whirling ten-pointed to death." dervishes from Tajakistan dcmandequaltime. Vice Presidelll Gore periodicall y picked up .£·8&- Longest inaugural addrcs... in nation's and moved around dance noor. history comes to an end. Clinton handed atlache case containing nuclear codes. Delivers approv .9 ,;Un.. - Entire state of Ark.1nsas joins ing thumbs-up sign to thoughtful aide who has presidentia l party o n ______filled it with Bi g Macs. Taxpayers treal. stage for a rendition of "We Are the World. " "10:45 am-Police report Upon hearing thi s. other busj acking under A nacostia 49 states prepare to ask Arkansas for foreign aid. Freeway. Marine Corps One dispatched to pick up .9.·8&- Not one to let C/lII' ton party ...." opportunities for a coll a J quy pass by. Clinton en- ) thusiasti call y discusses health care with a little old lady from Milwaukee. She gives him an earful. He asks he r 10 be HHS secretary . .9..-«§,;Un.. - CBS reports trouble at UN as Sununu tries to take his sent before a confimla tion hearing can be scheduled. /~-/5,;Un.. - President C linton sncaksout (0 'you know where' for a quick burger and fries. Invites Americans throughout the world for a midn ightcocoaon ground OoorofWhite House . ..3 tun.. - Crowd is enjoying themselves so much. inaugural organizers having difficulty gelling peoplc to go horne before lease on ballroom expires. Moments later. crowd pours out of every available exit aftcrClinton threat ens todeliverbriefrcmarks. A s lightl y inebri 0'r - Presidential motorcade escorted by ated Al Gore signs bar tab "Ronald Reagan:' slightly-tipsy Shriner bikers from the Volunteer State proceeds down Pennsylvania A venue. .§tuJe. - The presidcnt goes out in search of staffaides to debme NAFTA agreement. Find 0.·/5pn.. _ On way to inaugural ball, Secret Servi Ce startled when Clinton boilS out of Limo to ing none, he launches into a li ve ly soliloquy work crowd at Metro Center. Vice President like discussion with Socks about the trade Gore. mistaken for a cardboard cutout , finds him deficit Finishes off inauguration d.1 Y festi vi self posing for photo with tourists in town for the ties with a quick jog to Baltimore. boat show. 0.. ..3& tun.. - The fi rs t rnajorcrisisofthenew ? ,;UJe. - Catered dinner featuring: Le Quarter Clinton administration gets underway as more Punder avec cheese; succulent chicken pompoms tro uble is reported at the UN. Nmional Guard a la Chef Krok; deep fri ed sli vcrellcs de potmo: uni ts put on alert. • February/March 1993 15 The RlPON FORUM THE GOVERNORS Turning Taxachusetts Back into Massachusetts e talks about Rock 'n' Roll and he acts 011 deficits. Hc he is moving quickly and stead il y to tackle a bureaucracy that he H revels in the words of Nabokov and provides bal:mccd says has strangled the Commonwealth for the last eight years. budgcts. He is the spon sman. the fami ly man and the tax man. As President Bill Cl inton hosts economic conferences. He is the Govern or of Massachusetts, Bill Weld. makes trade trips and speaks of tax credits 10 revamp the nalion's Over the last two years, Govern or Weld has made frie nds. economy. the 47 year old Weld has been following a similar enemies, headlines and maybe most imporl antly, a national game plan since his 1990clectiOfi . While Clinton is not the "No following. He is Ihe son of a New Yorker: he is married to a New Taxes Man" nor the supply-sider Weld is. Clinton's ideas Roosevelt: he plays squash and essentially leads what some to encourage companies to reinvest in themselves and other people would ealltheperfectlife. Atlhc same time, the fl edgling small U.S. businesses is not unlike programs Weld began imple governor has taken the economic maelstrom of Massachusctts menting two years ago. In fact. Mm.sachuselts' first Republ ican and transformed il to a calmer scaofhope. Like the boats hcs..'lils, governor in twent y ycars has not on ly acted on these in itiatives. but has combined them wi th spending cuts and tax breaks to move Massachusetts away from the fi nancial nightmare il was. towards invcstmcnt dreams of jobs and prosperit y. An advocate Profile: Governor William F. Weld of industrial policy. Weld says his state's government and econom y will work in tandem, like a we ll +() ilcd machine. It is Career HighliglJls : time for both, he says, "to slim down, get fa ster and more customer oriented." 1974 Assoc iate Mi nority Counsel to the US House After Weld narrowly WOII the gubernatorial election in Judiciary Committee During theWalergatc 1990, th e fonner U. S. Allorney for MllSsachusells and Reagan impeachment inquiry. appointee knew he had to have a game plan. He had to make good on a promise. He wou ld not only tame the ornery "beast" of st:.lIe 1981 US Attorney for Massachusetts. appointed by Pres ident Ronald Reagan govern ment . as hec TIle RIPON FORUM 16 Fcbruary/March 1993 equi valent then to almost th ree times the rate of inflation. '92 budget. the absolute max imum amount that would allow Massachusctts quickly becamc known:tS "TaxachuSCl1S." The current state programs to operate. As predicted . most cuts came rcsultsof such spending wcrc disastrous in conjunction with the in places where Dukakis had increased spending the most. recession which was at its darkest whcn Govemor Weld took including social services. state government and higher educa officc. Incrcascdspending for scrvices like govemment salaries. tion. Although the entire sta te was facing hard times. spending education or family assistance was now impossiblc because the on social programs had increased so dramaticall y that this was state was vinually bankrupt. Even Wall Street rating agencies where Weld trimmcd fi rst. In 199 I. he cut almost I 5.000 pcople gave Massachuse l1 S' bonds the worst rating in the country from the 39.000 who alrcady received welfarcand will probably because they were considered barely above junk bond status. cut more this year by revamping the rederal assistance program. So what 's a new govcmor 10 do wilh a $2 billion deficit Aid to Fam ilies with Dependent Children. He has also lim ited and a blo..1tcd budgct? the eligibility for the health care program . Medicare. for those Cut it. In his fi rs t year of office. Weld slashed $2.6 bill ion from the WELD , contimlCd on next page February/March 1993 17 The RIPON FOR UM Massachusetts Revival WELD, continued/rom previous page solutions are not always popular at a time when Massachusett s is still so financiall y weak, generating only enough revenue to between the ages of 18 and 21 who are not disabled or pregnant. kccp programs ali ve and the state running. thereby cutting almost 9000 more from the relief rolls. Weld "The fiscal '94 budget will be very tighl," said Michael says those of this age bracket are bellcrequippcd to withstand the Widmer, pres ide nt of the busi ness backed Mass.1chusctls Tax loss of health care than older recipicnts. payer Foundation. "We will probably have a balanced budget. Weld's sweeping cuts did not leave state employces un but there will be lillie to no surplus." scathed either. During his first year in office, 1O.000jobs we re Critics say if Governor We ld is unable to b..1.Iance the budget cut from thc govemmcnt payroll. Even civ il servants who this year. which presently has a gap of about 5700 to $900 managed to keep thcir jobs havc yet to see an increase in their million. it wi ll be his own fault. Weld's repeal of the 5 percent salaries which have been [rozen sillce 1990. business ta x. his 0.3 percent reduction in income tax and his The final sw ing of Weld's ax fcll on the Commonwcalth's business tax credit for research and development im plemented universit y system forcing its higher education community to last year costs the state between $50 and $ 200 million in lost wi thstand some or the hi ghest cuts in the country. revenue each year. Today. state workers are demanding a 13 During his fi rst year. Weld made these cuts with vcry little percent pay mise which the govcmor says he will veto because argument from the legislature. Shortl y after his electi on. Weld the state doesn't have the money. He says the Massachusetts' also repealed the 5 percent tax on professional services. im ple budget does not allow for increased expenditures for items not mented a research and devc)opmenttax credit for new business. dedicated 10 the Bay Colony's future closed 9 of 35 state and mental hospitals due to under use and .. The Ma.<;sac husetts economy is recovering very slowly." proposed to reduce the income tax from 6.2 to 5.95 perccnt. said Barry Bluestone. senior fe llow at the John W. McConnack Even though many in the state house were uncertain as to School of Public Policy at the Un iversity of Massachusetts. whether Weld's moves could begin 10 alleviate the toll of the "Every analyst believes the economy wi ll continue to lag and "Ma.ssachusett s Miracle:' their support was imperative. But may never fu ll y recover bcc..1use of structural problems." This with a collapsing economy and a Republican state senate. the situation. he said. compounded with Weld's long tenn cuts state house seemed to havc litlle choice but to go along. With "leave little room for his new incentives." political sup port behind him. Weld nOl onl y eliminated the S2 Nevertheless, Bluestone also said that the Commonwealth billion defi cit but presented the first on-time balanced budget the must position itsclf for the long tenn. which isexactly what Weld state had seen in six years. is trying todo. After Wall Street finns raised the Bay State's bond rat ing to only the second worst in the coun try last September, Weld took the event as a sign of improvement and a time to move. Shortly thereafter. he proposed ajob creation program complete "SO despite what economic indicators may tell with t,IX cuts and public financing for business expansion. them, the Bay Colony wants to see some proof of Although some of the ideas in this package. including the purchase and soon. The problem ;s 'halth;s kind n.'<1 uction in capital gains tax. were proposed last January and of proof may not be apparent for JO or 20 years'" nixed by the legislat ure. Weld kecps hoping and will push to have them p:l'ised. "With the fiscal crisis behind us, we reall y sho uld let nothing interfere wit h job creati on:' Weld said last September. "My economic development plan will be targeted althat soleobjccti ve. " But this was only pan of tile Weldian solution. Taxcutsand And off he goes. Weld's latest venture rcquires him to take busine.o;s incentives are what this governor sees as the ultimate tmde trips to Mex ico where he has met with experts to open a key to restoring the Bay State's fiscal sanity. The governor is dialogue to prepare Massachusetts for a potentially lucrati ve detennined to invest in small businesses. dccentrali7.c the bu export business. There i:i!lot a 101 of extra money for trips such re3ucracy through goal-orientcd projects and push control of as these. but Weld says he is planning for the future. Yet some services fTOm the state to the communitics. Wcld has proposed the privatizing of almost everything from highways to health vOlers aren't p..1tient enough to wait for the future. Three years insurance for prisoners. He sees lucrative gains from investing in have passed since they voted for Weld and they want jobs. or salary increases or more money for their schools. So despite biotcch industries and reducing the capital gains tax on invest· ments held longer than six years. In short. he is shrinking what economic indicators may tell them. the Bay Colony w The RIPON FORUM 18 February/March 1993 GOP POLITICS Pennsylvania Meets David & Goliath nc more bi sc uit for breakfasl. Baseball mandcd Murphy for diverting congressional re O announcer Harry Carny uses the phrase sourt:es to his law finn and ghost voting. Murphy whenever a bailer hits a deep Oy ball that almost received 72 pcrt:enl oftbe votc against a 1I0-name clears the fence for a home run but ends up Republican Opponcnt. instead in an outfielder's glove. But the heavy baggage of a scandal·tainted One might hear il these days in the Capi tol Hill officcs oflhc National Republican Congres sional Comm illcc (NRCC) and ill GOP gather ings in southwes t Pennsylvania. For in Pennsylvania's 20t h Congress ional district "one more bi scuit for breakfast" or the political equivale nt - more money - mi ght have given a lillIe known Republican one of the most stunning upsets of the 1992 campaign. A stronger candidate al the top of the ticket would have helped. [00. The face in the 20t h pi lled Bi ll Townsend. a 27 year-old businessman . against veteran Demo crati c Rep_ Austin Murphy. Conventiona l wis dom saidTownscnddidn-t havca praye r. But Ihe ~ ~c a political neophyte almost pulled off what could GOP have bccnthc biggcst upsct in Pcnnsylvania th .. t COMMUN I CATIONS evening and QflC of the biggest in the country. Townscnd came within 3.337 vOtcs of dcfeating incumbency beg .. n to take its toll on Murphy. In Murphy who received 50.7 percent of the vo te in 1990 he faced a spiritcd challenger in the Ocmo the heavily Democratic district. crmic primary who alleged Murphy led a "secret "All we had 10 do was sway three votes in li fc" in WaShington and charged that the law every precinct:- Townsend said. m .. ker had fathered a son oul of wedlock - a Republic:lIls may be uscd to writing off a charge Murphy rcslxmded to by stating that he region whose Democmtic lcaningscan be traced had "never abandoned my responsibility to any to Albert Gallatin . Thomas Jefferson's Swiss of my children." bom Trc.1sury SecfCtary who made his home Murphy won that primary bailie_ but was in ncar Uniontown. 50 miles soulh of Pillsburgh. the mce of his life two years Imer. Facing four But the 20th district. where abandoned coal challengers in the 1992 Ocmocrnti c primary, he mines and shuddered steel mills liller the land won 36 percent of the vote. scape. represents a missed opportunity for Re Adding to Murphy's woes was his assoc ia publicans 10 make electoral inro.1ds in a Demo tion with Ihe two major congressional scandals of cmti c stronghold - an oplXJrtunity Ih .. 1 might 1992: the House Post Officeand the House Bank. not corne again for a loog timc. Murphy invoked the fift h amendment to avoid Murphy hadn ', received less than 60 pcrt:ent testifying to a gnUldjury after beiog subpoenacd By Bob Mitchcll of tbe vote since his firs t campaign 16 years ago. in the investigmion. and the lawmaker wrotc six Despite a House reprimand for elhics violations ovcrdrafts on his account at the House Bank. Bob Mitchell is a in 1987 and links to the House Post Omce scan Nonetheless. Townsend making his first run IVcultillgtoll- based ..... riter dal . he :Ippcarcd to be the prototypical congress for electi vc office was the decidcd underdog in man for life pilled every two years ag.. inst :lII e the raccagaiost Murphy. an eight tcnn lawmakcr mic opposi ti on. who serves as thc chairnwn ortlle Housc L:loor Indeed. in 1988 a year after the House repri- GO LI ATI - ~ cOlltitllled 0 11 p .24 February/March 1993 19 The RIPON FORUM I Strange Bedfellows he Bible is unique anlOng the sacred writings hy " Modernism" - the rise of evolutiona ry theory. T of the world's religions in that it purports to the reforms of the Social Gospel movement and providean account of the whole of history , Opening libeml theology in general. and particularly the with the words "In the beginning" of the creation application of historical-critical interpre tati ve story of Gencsis 1: I and closing with the vision of methods to the Bible - evangelicals in the early Review By the new Jerusalem descending from heaven at the twentieth century responded by clarifying and Bill Tate end of time in Iheconcludingchapters of Revela li on. systematizing thcir basic beliefs. it presents history as moving linearly between a The movement took its name from the World's divinely cstablished incepti on and a Christian Fundamentals Association founded in preordai ned conclusion. 19 19 and from twelve brief manifestos entitled Tile W~en lime S~dll Most would agree that the Old FUlldameflla/s: Testimony 10 Truth mailed free 10 and New Testaments have had a dcfini ng over 3 million U.S. Protestant leaders between Be no More elTect on lhe mind and imagimllion of 1910and 19 15. Among the beliefs listed asesscntial the West. But the claim that the Bible toa !rue understandingoflheChrisLi an fai th was the - Iaken as containing a literal account inerrancy of the Bible. including the liteml!ruth of of what look place in the past as we ll as the cremion stories. the accounts of Jesus' virgin a fOfC telling of what will happen in the birth , resurrection, and the text" which told of his future - continues to be an im port an t influence on the politics of the United States will strike many as bizarre. Yet this isprcciselYlhc thesis of Paul Boyer's UA leadership willing to do im portant and troubling book. Whe ll anything to win has attempted to Time Shall Be No More, The majority of Boyer's book is secure the support of given over to a detailed discussion of fundamentalist Christians through "prophesy belief' or "dispensational the manipulatioll of professional Wh en Time SlIall Be premillennialism" in Am erica. This is the religionists willillg to trim their No More : Prophecy conviction that history is divided into a series of theological sails to every popular historical periods and wi ll end after the Second Belief in Modenl whim, The result is a party ill American CII/lUre Coming of Christ and a millenium or thousand By Paul Boyer year period of peace and holiness on earth. It danger of losing both its mi"d alld Cambridge, teaches. Boyer says. its soul." Massachusetts: Harvard Un iversity that God at the beginning of time Press, 1992, detennined a specific. detailed, plan for S29.95 history's last days-a plan revealed in the physical return to earth at the end of history, Bible wi th minute panicularilY. though in Boye r identifies the prinCipal biblical sources symbolic language and veiled images. of prophecy belief to be the books of Ezeki el and Daniel in the Old Testament and the Book of Boyer believes that the enduring appeal of this Revelation in the New. and he makes two points way of t hi nking exislS because of the larger re ligious about these "apocalypses," The fi rst point com belief system of "fundamentalism:' Accordi ng to pares them wi th the writingsofthecJassic prophetic Boyer lhe risc of prcmillennia lism in this country tradition. These used plain language to speak of accompanied the rise of the fundamentalist contemporary events. understood good and ev il in movement within U,S, evangelicalism. Disturbed tcmlS of individual and corporate behavior. and The RIPON FORUM 20 February/March 1993 called for action to bring about change. The writ ings in the both fascinating and somcwhm fri ghtening. The era 's bipolar apocal yptic tradition , on the other hand, used symbol and alle tensions and accelenlling social change have provided the ,IU gory to "unveil" the divine plan at work behind the evems of Ihe thors oflhese sehemes wilh much material on which to speculate. day, They tended 10 understand good a nd evil in dualisti c tenns The collection of quotes from such prominent political fi gures as as opposing forces in a cosmic drama to which individuals and Ronald Reagan .James WaH. Caspar Wein berger and C. Everen nations were primarily passive spectators. Koop. as we ll as from such professional fundamentalists as Jerry Boyer's second point is that these apocalyptic texLS were Falwell , Pat Robertson and Bill y Graham is illuminating and produced at times of extrcme th reat to the audiences to which troublcsome. they were addressed. Ezeki el and Daniel both dale from ems So, too, is his explanmion of Ihe continuing appc:ll of when the Jews faccd extinction as a nation al the hands of prophecy belie f. which he links 10 the comparatively high lcvel powerful oeighoors. Similarly. the best known Christian apoca of cvangclical faith and practi cc in the United States. Point ing lypse - the Rcvelation of John - is addressed to the Christi an oulthat in a 1986 Gallup poll 32 perccnt of the respondcnts c hu rches of Asia Minor during the perse- identified lhemsel ves as " born aga in " cut ion instituted by the Roman Emperor orevangclical Christians. Boyer fin ds Domilian, even more revealing the fa ct thaI the These twoaspcctsof prophecy belief "We need to be more trlle 10 nonfiction bestseller of the 1970's. - its dualism and it 's tendency to in Ihe "small d" democratic with 9 million copics in print by 1978 crease its hold on the popular imagination and 28 million by 1990, was a popu traditions Oil which the party in limes of extemal thrcat to Ihe commu larinllion of premillennialism, Hal nity - continue 10 be central to the phe was founded, and make clear to Lindsey's The Loll! Creal PIUllet Earth nomenon to the present day. Thus. Boyer flmdamelltali.'i'!i 'hey aTe (1 970). writes: welcome to participate ill 'he Boyerconcludcs that"the impulse to debate 011 how be.\'t to represent uncovcr coherence and overarching At lhe popular level, particularly in these vailles ill the futllre only if mean ing" in thc "aimlcssnessof secu America, the apocalyptic texLS re lar history" has always been an im maincd what they had always been: they ohseTl'e the terms under portant at traction of prophecy belief. a vital source of doctrine. reassur which this debate IIlllst take Its strength in this country springs ance. and foreknowlcdge. Ordinary place ... from its sharing with other Amcrican bel ievcrs contin ued to pore ovcr their grassrools rc ligious movements an pages and to look expectantly forthc ability " 10 communicale evenLS thcy found predicted there. with people at the culture's edge and Even at th is Icvel, however. interest to give them a sense of personal ac- in prophetic interpretation nucluated, waning in tran cess 10 knowledge, trulh , and power:' qui l times and intensifying during pcriods of uncer This is the most benign source o f premillcnnialism's tainty, upheaval . and danger- most rcccntly in the post- appeal. Far more troubling is the authoritarianism on which 1945 decadcs of nuclear menace Cold War alanns, and prophecy belief and ultimately fundamCIll.1lism rests. Millennial unsculing technologicul developments. writi ngs arc overwhelmingly concemcd, Boyer writes, "with order and harmony, oft en explicitly conlmSled wilh the disorder While thcy vary in dctails thc writers' predicti ve schcmes. and dishannony of contemporary social exislcnce:' wh ich Boycr calls "prophecy popularizers" contain the same But it is an order and harmony imposed from outsidc thc main elcments. Thc timctable put fonh by John Darby in thc latc mcssy work of politi cs. nOI achieved Ih rough laking part in thai 19th ccntury is represcntative. Based on a careful , if ofle n work. Prophecy writing rcveals a dcep longing for a leader. strained, reading of selected apocalyptic lex IS, Darby taught that Boyer notes. "who will al lasl lift the burdcll of responsibility the present or "Churc h Agc" began with thc crucifixion and fro m humanity'sshoulders." It is a longing humanity has sought would include the reesta blishment of a Jew ish statc in Palestinc 10 satisfy at uncounted cost. and the rebu ilding of the Temple at Jcrusalem. He said thc next When Time Sholl Be No More is a long and scholarly will begin with the "Rapture" - the momcnt whcn all believers trealment of a subjecl which Boyer admits could be dismissed as will be caught up to meet Christ in the air. This will be followed "a trivial blind alley in human thought:' but one which hovers by th e seven-ycar rule of thc Antichrist. the so called "Tribula "on the brink of major intellectual issues." T hc book will repay tion:' which in tum will cnd with Chri st's return and thc defeat man yfOld Iheeffort it requires. It contains a particularly impor of the Antichrist in the "Bailie of Armageddon." Then will tallt lesson for Republicans. fo ll ow Ihe "Millcnnium," Christ's thousand-year reign: a final An old saying has it that politics makes for strange bedfel unsuccessful uprising by Satan. the rcsurrcclionofthedcad. and lows and never has this becn morc truc than it is now for thc history's closing event. Lhe Last Judgment. Republican Party. A leadership willing to do anyt hing to win has Boycr's discussion of the infl ucncc of prophecy belief on U.S. foreign policy and domestic polil ics during IheCold War is BOYEH, continuetl on p. 31 February/March 1993 21 The RIPON FORUM BOOK II REVIEW I A Guru's Gleanings Review By ight it be that the new Secretary of Labor has cost production around the world. More impor Andrew H. McLeod M han gi ng above his desk a portrait of... Cal vin tanl than the home location of a firm and the Coolidge? nationality of its investors is where the actual Perhaps not. Yet. it was to that taci production occurs and who adds value. ~ --- - turn Republican predecessor of Bill " Intellectual and financial capital can come .. ...--...... _...... -- _.-...... - _ - Clinton that Robert Reich looked for the from anywhere. and be added instantly ... Ohis) words that open his 1991 book The Work ecumenical company competes with similarly o/Nations: Preparill g Ourselves/or 21 st ecumenical companies headquanered in other 1H[ WORK Cel/wry Capita/i.fllI : " Patriotism is easy nmions .. . (that) the strength of the Ame ri can to understand". It means looking out for econom y is synonymous with the profi ta bilit y yoursclfby looking out for your country ." and productivit y of American corporations is And it is a "new patriotism" to which thus an axiom on the brink of anachronism." Of nAliOnS Reich aspires for this country as it en Numerous examplcsof such glooo.l webs arc ) '\ counters a new economic world order. offel'(.'(\. and Ihey arc not surprising. For ex His is a "positive economic nationalism" ample. Ihc spons car financed in Japan. designed that strictly defines and bolsters the es in Italy. assembled in Indiana.Mcxico. IUld Fmnce, sential factors of production. rejccts pro using components in ve nted in New Jersey and tecti on ism. encourages the transition from fabricated in Japan. To argue that theautomobile fading traditional industries to new tech is American. Japanese or Mexican is almost nologies. and. most profoundly. demands meaningless. the author maintains. Room o. Rm greater soc ial responsibility on the part of The factor of production that is most critiea) the most privileged in our society. is dcternl incd by where the work takes place and The Work 0/ Nati o ll .~ : In presenting his vision of the new world by whm nation 's citi zens benefit . The workers Preparing Ollrse/I'es/or economic order. Reich. the non·econom ist from who possess the specific ski lls nccessary to cre 2 1st Cemury Capitalism Harvard's Kennedy School of Government who ate value and wealth arc capable of doing SO By Robert B. Reich shared thcexpcriencc ofa Rhodes Scholarship with anywhere in the world. First Vintage Books. Clinton 20 years ago. pours through a wide range of Says Reich: ..... so muc h of the value pro 1991. 1992 social. economic. and public pol icy issues with vided by the successful cnterprise - in fac t the clarity and conviction. And dcspite its shortfalls only value thai cannot easil y be replicated world both substanti ve and methodological- The Work wide-entails services: the speciali zed research. 0/ Nmiolls is a provocative and instructive defense engineering. and designed services necessary to of a ph ilosoph y vying for preeminence in the na solve problems: the management services for scent Clilllon Administration and of the need for brokering the first two ... Ihe onl y true compe ti dramatic political and social change in Ameri ca. ti ve advantage lies in skill in solving. identifying. Reich 's prcmi se is that the ru les of the international and brokcring new problems." econonlic g:lffie have changed over the past quarter These people. to whom he gives the awk centu ry . Gone is the em when "the well-being of ward label of "symbolic analysts," arc lawyers. indi vidual ci ti zens. the prosperit y oflhe nation . and management COIlSUhants . civi I eng i neers and also the success of the nation' score corporat ions seemed advcrtisingexecutives.journal ists. and fi lm mak inextricably connected." ers. They comprise approximately 20 percent of Instead . the world economy is now domi na ted the American workforce ( up from 8 percent in by "global webs," muiti-llatiollilis whose definin g the 1950s). Their talents arc the linChpin to the charactcristi c is that they seck out and exploil low- world economy. The RIPON FORUM 22 February/March 1993 However, in the Un ited States. unlike other mainstrcamof American thinking-keep in mind nations, these symbolic analysts arc "seceding" thm Reich is an attorney and lect urcr - agrees from the society. They have chOSClilo enjoy their that the S300 billion annual deficits contribute advantage and to consume. withdrawing from to high-long ternl inlerestratcs. Can the intcrna soc ial and political ac ti vism and failing 10 look out tional fl ow of capital be so perfect and unhin· for the majority of their countrymen who are dered that there docs not exist an unsustainablc producing less. earning less. and competing less level of debt? successfull y with their intenlational counterpans, Yet, even given his serious blind spot about "As the economic fates of Americans di the influence of the public dis·savings and the verge, thc top one-mth may be losing thc long insufficient means with which to pay for his held scnse of connectedness with the bollom [iflh, investments, Reich's defense of public spend or evcn the boltom four-firths. that would moti· ing - panicularly spending for educat ion-as vate such generosit y." Reich writes, " ... (no) longer criticalto futurccompet iti vencss is a p.1ss ion for arc Americans rising or falling together. a .. if in increased spending wi th the pol itical will to one national boot. Wc arc increasingly. in differ· properly raise thc necessary revenue. His call cnt . smaller boats." for a more progressive ta ", code simply is not Thi s secession by symbolic analysts, Reich sufficient. believes. is manifested in the recent and CUlTCnt At the same time. it is impon:U1t to recog dec line in "public inveslnlC nt"-a phrase whose ni ze that while Reich's be li ef in the absolute usage in the new Democratic em is widespread primacy of global webs over traditional nationa l and. thus, a rc.1son for wariness. The wcalt hy and finns causes him to dismiss the imponance of productive are un willing tocxpend real and politi the trade balance, it also makes him a strong cal capitallocnhance American competiti veness. proponent of frl.. 'C trade. Th is is a significant and As a result the policies that Reich belicves arc promisingdevclopment foran individual whose necessary to increa<;e productiv it y and ultimately previous writingscndor.;ed an ind ustrial policy to remedy widesprc.:ld social il ls are nOI politi call y for the United States. viable and arc not enacted. Reich properl y advocates public investmCIlI in education, u-aining and infrastructu re. But because he backed such spending whatever the "the ollly vallie that call1lot easily cost to support it, he stumbles intOlhe most funda mental naw of The Work 0/ Nmiolls and places be replicated worldwide - elltails himself squarely at odds wi th olherleading voices services... the 01lly trlle of the new Administrati on. competitive advalltage lies ill skill His rejecti on ofthc nOli ons of "national capi lal" and of the ';crowd ing out" of privatc invesl i71 solvillg, idelltifyi7lg, a7ld ment by public spending causes him to have no broke."i7lg 7I ew problems." worries about the national debt. "When capital moved less free ly across national borders, it was genemll y true thai its cost in anyone count ry depended 011 the level of national savings ... (by) the 1990's, however, the savi ngs of many nations All of which. fina ll y, leads Reich to hi s were combining into a vast pool which sloshed powerful concluding sentiment. "Who is 'us'?" across national borders in search of the highest he asks. "The question is whelher the habits of returns," Thus, he argues. "there is nothing terri citizenship arc sufficiently Sllong to withstand bly wrong with being indebted to foreigners - so ihecentrifugal forccsofthe new global economy, long as the borrowings arc invested in factories, Is thc reenough of simple loyal ty 10 place -of schools, roads, and other means of enhancing civic obligation, even when unadorned by en future production,., (debt) is only a problem if the I ightened self -intercst- to cI ici t sacri [ice none Andy McLeod is an money is squandered on consumption." theless? We are, after ail , citizens as well as Assista llt SecrelOry/or While fcwpcoplc who lived through thc I 980s economic actors: we may wo rk in markets but ResOllrces i ll/he will challcnge his admonitions about over con we li ve in societies. How tight is the soc ial and Admillis/ralioll 0/ sumption , the :luthor'sdisrcgard for the cUlTCnt S4 pol itical bond when the economic bond unmv Gover/l or Pele Wilsoll oj trillion national debt (appro", imately half the gross cis?" California. domestic product) is rcason for serious reserv:lIion Si lent Cal was ri ght. And on thi s poi nt about this aspect of his prescription. The bro.1d Secretary Reich is ri ght , [t is time to look out for our country, • February/Marc h 1993 23 The RIPON FORUM Young Challenger Comes Close GOLIATH, conli'lUedfromp.19 effcct helped Bill Townsend :' Townsend said his campaign organization knocked on the Siandards subcommillcc. door of more than 20,000 homes in the district but was hun by Townsend faced the disadvantages that typicall y encum ber a small and demoralized local Republican Par1y. challengers in congressional races: no name recogn ition. lillie "There's just not much organization there. They reall y had money and a well known opponent wilh easy access to the a shot at doing someth ing. Everybody in me campaign knew we political action committee contributions that fuel congressional cou ld win this thing. but it was very difficult convi ncing the campaigns. Republican Party locally that we could:' he said. Murphy raised $220,250 in contributions in 1992. with 79 Townsend had noth ing but praise for the NRCC: "I think percent - or S I74.650 -coming from spec ial interest political they did everyth ing they could do:' but some said fundin g forthe action committees. Bycontr.t. Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. STATBtJ;:..7OFOWNERSIUP. MANAGEME/'.T AND ORcut.ATIOS But Bush managed 36 percent of the vote losing the state to Bill Clinton this lime 3found. In eachofthe Dcmocraticcounties I. Titltofpublication: Ripon FcmI .... 1, Dattofl'i!ina:: October7. 1m. 3. I'm(Umc)' of I...... : 8 i· M omhl~. lI. Numbrr of bSue5 Published Ann uaUy: 12.000. Jb. Annual that make up the 20th, Bush's percentage of the vote fell between SubJcnplion Pri«: S IS.OO. 4. COffIj)It1c Mailins Add,,,:u: 109 2nd SIIUt. t-.'E. Suile 100, 9 and 13 percent in 1992 [rom 1988 levels. Wuhinglon. DC 20002. S. Compkte: Moiling AddfUI. of the H..,jquaru:o< ofGtne ..1 Busin ... Offic~ af Pu bliwr: 7Q\l2nd Sllttl. NF~ Su ite: 100. W.. hington.OC20002. 6. " Had we had a nomlal presidcntial perfonnance. it would Full No_ ond Moiling Add""" of Editor: David r'Uscus.109 2ndStr«!. r-;'E. Suite 100. have been enough that it would have put him over the top." s.1id WOllhinlllon. IX: 20001. 7. Owner: 'The Ripon Sociel),. 709 2nd Str<'t1. NE, Suit~ 100. WOllhington. DC20002. 8. Known Ilondholde"., MOrlgagts. • ndOth~r &CUrit)' I l old~f'I Tom Cole of the NRCC. Owning 0. Iioidi ng I Peoctnt Or M o,,", of Totol Amounl of Bonds, Mongog.. , o,OIhtr Despite his ethics problems and the close call in the Demo Socurih",: No"". 1I.1M ru'T""c, fun otion. and nonprofit .u!u.ofthis olJlMiulion and th~ cratic primary. Murphy and district Democra ts apparent ly be n ..npt lUtu, fo, Fe February/March 1993 25 The RIPON FORUM IIWASHINGTON NOTES & QUOTES II Ripon Forum's Moderate Republican Picks for the l03rd Congress Tillie Flower - Florida Robert Franks - New Jersey One of only th ree Republican women elccted to the House this A New Jersey nati ve. Robert Fr.lIlks is the new House Represen fall, Mrs. Fowler brings the number of women to 12 altogether. tative for it s 7t h district. A Tlatural successor to incumbent Rep. Unlike many others who were running an anti-i ncum bent race or Matt Rinaldo who announced unexpectedly he would seek his a dirty tricks campaign. Fowler managed to run a no-nonsense fortune in the private sector. Franks has been involved with the campaign and beat her Democmtic opponent 54-44 perccnt in GOP since 1979 when he first won his state assembly scat. the race for this open seal. Fowlcr says she plans to leave the Franks had also bccn state party chairman since 1988. where he House of Representativcs after eight years j ust as she left her was head of the policy and rules committee for the Assembly. councilwoman positi on after the same amount of time. She has One of the only Republican members who ran without an said elected officials should serve no longcr. Like (heather GOP endorsement from thc NRA. Franks is also an advocate of women in the House and Senate, Fowler is a moderate Republi abort ion ri ghts. can and supports not only abort ion ri ghts, bU I a balanced budget amendment as well. Deborah Pryce - Olrio Jack Quinn-New York Deborah Pryce. municipaljudgc for Franklin County. mother of two and now US Represelllative of Ohio's 15th district ran a Jack Quinn's unexpected wi n in this Democratic stronghold of tough race this fall . Not only did she have to defeat Ri chard up state New York's Buffalo distric t. might have caught him by Cordray. a Democratic slale representative, but also had to take surprise. An English tc..1cher and self-described moderate Re on independent candidate Linda Reidelbach. who entered the publican. Quinn ran a strong anti-incum bent race against politi race merely to protest Prycc's pro-choice position. Pryce sup cal insider Dennis Gorski for this open seat vacated by Rep. ports the balanced budget amendment and temt limitations but Henry Novak. Quinn 's new district, which is apparently suffcr said during her campaign that she believes Ihatthe language in ing real cconomic hardship. will require some innovative han the Freedom of Choice Act is too vague because, she Sllid , it is dling if he is to keep his seat a fter two years. not specific on whether states wi ll be able to apply the parental notification restricti on. Peter Torkildsen-Massachllsetts Jim Greenwood - Pennsylvania A Govern or Weld appointee, this former commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Labor and st:lte represent ative was With experience in bol h state house and senate, Greenwood is a traditional conservative until he 1:lUnched his campaign for the not new to polit ics or the typical fi ghts in party leadership in his House this year. But now at 34. Torkildscn has revamped his traditionall y conservative homeofthe party leadership in Harris political stance since being a leg islator and will craft what his burg. A moderate on social issues but fiscally conservative. new Administrative Assistant Steve Sulton called a more Greenwood appears to also hold the Weldian model in mind "Weldian" vot ing record. Already in that mode. Torkildsen has during his career in politics. Greenwood is an abortion-rights :l.Ircady promised to co·sponsor the Freedom of Choice Act now advocatc as well as a proponent of term limits. pending in Congress. Henry 80"illa - Texas Steve Hom - Cali/omia Texas ncws anchor Harry Bonilla, who beat four tcrm incum bent Although originally from California, Hom was a politico e:lrly Rep. Albert Bustamante (0 ) by 6 1 percent, will be one of the on when he came to Washington in the 1950's as a poli tical threc Hispanic Republican members in the 103rd Congress. But appointee in Ihe Eisenhower Administr..ltion. Afterward, he was the nati vc San Antonian is different than most Hispanic legisla· an aide to Republican senator Thomas Kuchel where he worked tors in Ihat he docs nOl see the Republican party as the natural on legislation such as tllcCivil RightsAct of 1964 ,Uld the Voting home for Hispanics because it is ant i-Castro, but bcC.1Use it is the Rights Ac t of 1965. He is the author of several books on working man's pany. • Congress and a fonner Brookings Institute fellow. The RIPON FORUM 26 February/March 1993 by Jeff MacNelly February/March 1993 27 The RIPON FORUM I ~I I Moderates or Progressives? he inability of "moderate Republicans" or potentially successful political strategy. But the T"progressive Republicans" toagreeon what electoral successes of Nixon. Reagan and Bush tocallthemselvcs re ncets an underl ying tension undermincd the claim that only Republican mod between moderate/ccntrist Republ icans directed erates could win. The Reagan era policy shifts at " making goverm cm work" and "progressive" have reduced the appeal of accommO<\.1tion with Republicans focused on a philosophy of indi a li beral agenda. viduals' ri ghts and "classical liberalism." The The increased cconom ic conservati sm of dividing line also splits over the balance of moderate/progressive Republicans refl ects power between elite "expert s" and individ uals. Reagan'ssucccsses. Manyassumed,before 1980. Followingan unusualycar in which incum that Republicans should strive for the best accom bents were rejected in record numbers, the pub modation possiblc wi th liberal Democrats cvcn lic is particularly hostile to thought Reagan had no real istic agcndaless politicians and those prospect of success. His triumphs whose primary purpose seems 10 encouraged a more a dctermincd be stay ing in office. Rarely has a adherence to conservativceconOfll - stra tegy of governin g by "All party ics. MOOcrate/progressive Repub accomodming contrasting idca'i lican governors such as John enjoyed less support. Thc tcrm factiol/s McKernan of Mainc. Bi ll Weld of lim itation movement reflects the Massachusens and Pete Wilson of appeal of a wholcsale rcjection of chal/ge over California now follow his example a career politica l elitc. A frec by fight ing to cut spending and minds/frecmarkctagcndaappcals time." resist tax increases. They are a todisenchan tmcnt with the domi · long way from John Lindsay's li b nation of both party structurcs by cra l Republicanism. activ ists wanting governmcnt Another aspect of thc di vide power to serve their own goals. be tween mode ratcs and Average votcrs arc far morc likely to be both progressives rencets an old debatc. It SCL'i th e fiscally conservati vc and sociall y tolcmntlhan Ham iltoni ans. who prefer reserving power for those most ac ti ve in eithcr party. know ledgeablc elites, against thc'Jeffersonians: All pany fac tions change over time. Thc who prefer limitin g government's power over Republican ri ght of Pat Robcnson ha.'i come a individual. In a rccent anicle in The Ripon Forum, long way from thc Goldwater movemcnt of the Peter Smith's "Changing Tides" reads as an Cow P'.dace.just as the voting rights revolution appcal to political elitcs to "gct governing right" or transformed Southern Democrats. Thc Rcpub else be swept asidc by political wrath. By M ark Uncapher Iican moderate/progressive wing Ms undcrgonc As Smith nOles. communicmions technolo many changes. Beginning with the abolitionist gies arc reshaping society. allowing individuals Mark UI/copher is a New movemcnt. it cmerged as a reform wing later in more freedom from intervening"gatckcepcrs." In York communications the 19th century. At the tum of the century the the last twenty years the Fortune 500corporations' attome)' and \\'as Ripon progressivc spirit of Teddy Roosevelt gave it share of total American employment has dropped Society president/rom new direction. Between the wars, this wing of from 2 1 percent oftoralemployment to 10 percent. /987 to /990 the GOP evolved into a cross between the The number of Americans reponing self-employ midwestcOi progressives and Ihe Eastern inter ment income now exceeds the number of union nationalists at odds with the party·s dominant ized workers in private ind usrty. Thc reluctance of isolati onist outlook. Aftcr World War II we tried to make the party acccptlhc rcsults or thc PROGRESSIVES, continued on p.3J New Deal cra. both Oul of conviction and as a The RIPON FOR UM 28 Febru ary/March 1993 Will the Real Evangelicals Please Stand Up? he bailie be tween the reli gious rig ht a nd th e Republican Tcentrists fOf control or the Pan y has bcgun . But be fore th e troops arc fully committed to an inextricable e ngagement. we should be clear about who is fi ghting whom. The common tendency is to associate the "evangelical wing" of the Republican party wilh the c",(reme television-funded fundamentalist political ri ght. Leaders of Ihe religious ri ght are doing their best to fosler th is impression so th ey can manipulate Ihis huge and influential constitue ncy to remove "moocrates" and "progressives" fro m Ihe party leadership. The I,lctic is simple: pick an issucon which developing public altitudes arc in confl ict with trad itional hard-line religious doctrine and force moderates and progressives to denounce the importation of re ligion into public life. The latter are then suscept ibl e to charges oflack of moral principle. or even Godless "secular humanism:' irrespecti ve of their personal convictions. The reason why this works is tha t Christian fundamentalism is the most vocal elemellt of the renewed, and far-broader, evangelical moveme nt. That broader group is mueh more di verse and tolerant than its most vocal represen tati ves. But the broader group will rally against ally blanke t denunciation of the public importance of re li gious belief or of spiritually mo ti vated public activism. For the most pan. Republican moderates have no beef with the evangeli cal movement. Many progressive moderates. Christian and non-Christian . also qualify as evange licals in their private li ves. They do not wish to sec religious beliefs become part of governme ntal regulation but they are pained to sec Republicans denouncing evangeli cism generically. While they do not feci that the religious ri ght speaks for them. they welcome th e renewal of faith inlile United States a nd hope that it will assist in public as well as private impro ve ments. Indeed, daunted as the nation is by di fficulty. they sec the prospects of governme nt dimming. and the need for faith increasing. Many see no other answer. Evangelicism is firmly rooted in the history of American thought and By Fred Kell ogg practi ce. Its most general the me is that of placing primary reliance for the moral im provement of Ame rica outs ide governmental institutions. That view is shared by the "moderate/progressive" wing of the Republican party. and Fred Kellogg is a indeed it is this theme Ihal di stinguishes centrist Republicans from mainstream regular COIl/riburor Democrats. But th:1I theme goes hand in hand with taking democratic to the Ripol/ Forum government seri ously. and barring Ihe door to subversion of democracy. and evangelic ism itself. by the c harlatans a nd witch-doctorsoflhe religious right. Instead of cutting the mselves off from these altitudes. Republican mod eratesshould be spcakingto that key constit uency more than ever. The danger facing the party now is that it will play dircctl y into the hands of the self-styled Christi an Coalition. who would like noth ing more than for Republican progressives lind moderates 10 declare war on a ll evangelicals. • Fcbruary/March 1993 29 The RIPON FORUM GOP POLITICS Dance to the Left, Dance to the Right or the majority of House Republicans party or the li berals to him. The alternati ve that F scrving in Congress wilh a Democratic Tom Mann suggests is that the president will look president will be a new experience. one that to progressive Republicans to supplement his re quires some reflect io n especiall y fo r congressional majori ty and compensate for the RepUblicans of moderate. independe nt defection of the most liberal DemOCr'Jts on criti cal persuasion. issues. The first mailer to reflect upon , and the Mauers of war and peace. the size and scope chief concern for an elected of the defense budget. in trusive representative. is the mood of government regulation of busi the electorate. "The first mailer to ness. the ex tensive federal man Whal the people have dates on state and local govern been seeing in Washington is rej1eetl/pOII, alld ments. program rc fomlS for those politics as usual ; gridlock. di the chief eOlleem such as public assistance will all vided government. rampant combine 10 present a leadership partisanship, and frankly a for all elected crisis for President Clinton. degree of irrelevance. What represelltative, is If. as some have said, he is a Americans dcspermely want the mood of the liberal who campaigned cyni is tosee their president and the cally as a moderate New Demo Congress actually working electorate," crat. we will see it in his propos- logelhcrdcaling with the prob- als. and he will run the immedi lems the people care about. ate risk of alien The RIPON FORUM 30 February/March 1993 Moderate Views Continue to Evolve PROGRESSIVES, co"li,wed!rom p. 28 insti tutions to chan ge themselves is a strik ing feature of thi s The thread of this inteOia l realignment divide is visible with tmnsfOOIlaliofl . The priveledged roleof"gatekeeper" seems too speci fi c issues. The 1990 budget agreement renects a "grand hard 10 give up. Dense corporate structures arc losing the compromise" approoch to government that Peter Smith advo· competiti ve advantage to smaller.onen newer, more responsive catcs. Without rehashing the argumenlS for and against it. one organizat ions. The largest organi7.ations usuall y show the great· can reasonably conclude that many disagreements about it est reluctance 10 reforming themselves. existed among moderate/progressive Republicans. The innuencc of this decentrali7.3 tion is be ing felt in poli· Unquestionably, though, fulu re Republican presidential tics. Jefferson's vision enjoys renewed strength . Governor Bill candidates will sct the demarcation lines within party politics Weld renccted this reappraisal in a recent New York Times and among moderate/progressive Republicans. Pete Wilson or Mogll:inc interview: " I was brought Up :1 Hamihonian. When I James Baker might revive the coalition of moderates and mod· was at Middlesex I wrote a fawni ng paper about Alexander er:lIe conservatives that suppo rted Gerald Ford and George HamiJtonand how wonderful he was. Now I don't agree with one Bush. Jack Kemp might fashion acoalition around his"blccding thing the guy stood for. I was brought upto think: Oh. the Adam s hcart conservatism." Bill Weld could succeed offering a new family was so wonderful and Jefferson was an upstan. Last 10 fu sion to old line "Progressive Rcpublicans" and Republ ican years. 180 degrees." libertarians sharing a frcc market/free minds outlook. • Republicans Can GOP Has Differences Learn From Boyer GOP, continued f rom p. 6 BOYER, continued/rom p. 21 hc Democrats have spent twenty of the past twenty· four Tyears outside the White House and during the powerless period. they have had 10 redefine their part y many times. each attempted to secure the support of fundamentalist Christians effort has been an :lltempt to construct themes and messages through thc manipulation of professional religionists willing to which resonate with the American people. With Presidcnt trim their theological sails to every popular whim . The result is Clinton. they were obviously successful in wi nning a nat ional a party in danger of losing both its mind :md its soul. election, bUlthe questi on still remains as to whethcror not their Republicans need to be more honest with themselves and political message truly renCC!S the feelings of the Arneric:Ul wi th their fundamcntalist friends. We need tobe more truc to the people. "small d" democratic traditions on which the pany was founded, Over the nexty four years, Dcmocr.us and RepUblicans will alld make clear to fund:lmen talists they are welcome 10 part ici· be spending a great deal of li me. effort and money trying to pate in the deb:lle on how best to represent these values in the discover if they control the ideas which will improve our nation futu re onl y if they observe thc tcmlS under whic h this debate and move us forward as a people. Certainl y. as the head of his must take place. party, Bill Clinton has the upper hand in this struggle because he The constitutionall y enshrined ideal of the sep:tr.uion of can form the shape and substance of the Democrats' message. chu rch and sta te is not intended to exclude faith from the public Thc Republican party faces a farmore difficult lask because arena. Doing so would be impossible. Every political dcbate is the various factions wilhin the part y h:lve serious differences. ultimately a contest between competing human priori ties and Republic:lIls do nOI have a central force to suppress ideology :lJld thus inev itably wi ll have a~ its txlsisconnicting re li gious values. Ihus no clear p..lt h for the formulation of poli ti cal messages What the Estahlishment Clause of the First Amendment docs exists. However, thc intemal delxlle, discussions and fi ghts altempt to do is ensure that such debates are scltled through should be good for the GOP. At the very le:lsl. the palty of appcalto the persuasive force of open argument. nOl by calling Lincoln has the opportunity to shape its own fUlure. The makeup on the coerc ive power of religious authorit y. no malter how of that futu re is stili to be determined. • hc.lrtfe Jt the faith in that authority may be. Our system of governance is founded on the convict ion that no one individual or group will ever possess the absolute truth . and that we can hope at anyone time to:UTi ve at even proximate reminding the church at Corinth of the limits inherent in ali truth only th rough free and unrestricted debate carried on in a human knowi ng. It is :1 lesson :111 RepUblicans, from the most contex t of mutua l respect. When the Apostle Paul spoke of his eynic:11 polit ician to the most fe rvent fundamentalist. should havi ng his knowledge of the divine in "eart hen vessels:' he was keep in mind. • February/Marc h 1993 31 The RIPON FORUM Bringing Answers to the Nation's Questions RJI recognizes the inc re a s ing value of m e aningfuL- a ccurate and time Ly info rmatio n. For over a d ecade, indus try and governrn e nt h ave d ep e nded upo n u s to m eet the ir informatio n resource Inanagem e nt re quire lne nts. l:\fOR~I , \IIO:\ SI,R\ I( I,S \lA:\A(,DIl.:\ r • Inquiry Response a nd Re fe rral • Database Con structi o n and Ma inte nance 1'l:IIL1LH ION SER\'In:S • Maili ng Li st Ma intenance • Researc h , Wri ti n g (Inc! 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