ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060026
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
ON THIS morning after, all the candidates - winners and losers - deserve gratitude, and all the voters, congratulations. Theirs is the effort that sustains democracy.
Voters did well, in our view, to return to office President Bill Clinton, Sen. John Warner (if by a smaller margin than expected) and Reps. Bob Goodlatte and Rick Boucher, and to elect Virgil Goode. Partisan differences aside, these are effective politicians. Tuesday's balloting suggests considerable confidence in Clinton's stewardship of the economy, and hints at a consensus for both prudent activism and fiscal moderation. Voters saw little cause for revolt at the polling booths.
Even so, the election leaves this editorial page, and evidently many Americans, less than elated. Not only because the corruptive role of campaign finance grew so ludicrous, and not only because Clinton's triumph - as the first Democrat elected to a second term since FDR - could still turn to ashes if one or more scandals surrounding the administration catches fire.
Tuesday's election adds to our unease mostly because it offers little direction for addressing the nation's central challenges.
After a yearlong campaign, we know more about the sins of Newt Gingrich and the virtues of v-chips. But have we a better idea of how the nation should go about improving shockingly mediocre public education; or extending health insurance to 42 million Americans who lack it; or fixing unsustainable Medicare, Social Security and other entitlements; or shrinking the gap between rich and poor; or promoting the spread of democracy abroad?
Did you hear a major-party candidate explain a coherent strategy for any of these problems or, for that matter, request any sacrifices for the benefit of future generations? We didn't.
The electorate did send important messages. By repudiating Bob Dole's proposed 15-percent tax cut, voters suggested they're not buying the old supply-side snake oil. By turning away from excesses of the congressional class of 1994 and the GOP platform - and, in Virginia, by rewarding John Warner for his principled rejection of Oliver North's Senate bid - voters warned that ideological arrogance can carry political costs.
Yet even these healthy conclusions were diminished by Clinton's efforts to undercut and pre-empt GOP strategy. His own "targeted" tax breaks, if enacted, will complicate deficit reduction and move the nation further away from tax-code simplification. His minimalist social-issue positionings and proposed crackdowns (mostly on kids and criminals) helped seize the political center from Republicans, but offer no blueprint for a second term.
In most respects, the election leaves the winners, especially Clinton, without a clear mandate for action - except perhaps a negative mandate to avoid cutting too much government (a la Newt) or adding too much (a la Hillary). Dole is a thoroughly decent person and an accomplished Senate leader. But he was a pathetic campaigner. As a result, Clinton never was forced to sharply define or defend his presidency and purposes, bridges to the future notwithstanding.
All of which leaves us this morning with more than a little uncertainty - except on a couple of points. The challenge facing the new Congress will be to find a pragmatic core of members who can work with the president to get things done. The challenge facing Clinton is to prove he can be as good at governing as he was at campaigning.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines KEYWORDS: ELECTIONby CNB