THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A20 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Results in Tuesday's elections were incomplete at press time, but regardless of whether the Democratic Party manages to salvage a better-than-expected performance, President Clinton and his administration clearly stand at a crossroads. The direction he chooses could determine whether the remaining two years of his term are reasonably successful or a disappointment.
President Clinton ran for office in 1992 on the basis of being a ``New Democrat.'' That is, one who had learned the lessons of the rejection of McGovernism throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In his campaign, President Clinton highlighted welfare reform, support for family values, a strong defense, a middle-class tax cut, making abortion ``safe, legal and rare'' and other items that would not have been out of place in a Democratic platform a generation ago.
Unfortunately, the president hasn't paid much attention to this advertised agenda. His strong and early stand in favor of lifting the ban on homosexuals in the military caught the public and Congress by surprise. This was followed by dropping the middle-class tax cut in favor of a general tax increase, statements by Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders that offended Catholics and other conservative Christians, a health-care program that was a throwback to the earliest days of welfare statism and the downgrading of welfare reform.
Plainly, the voters are not impressed. Even an improving economy did not appear to help the president's party. If Mr. Clinton continues on his current path, he himself faces a one-term limit.
The president could choose to move hard to the liberal side of the spectrum, knowing full well he will not get what he wants from a more conservative Congress, but hoping it will play with the voters. Tuesday's results do not bode well for this option.
Or, a promising course, Clinton could return to his New Democratic roots. A serious welfare reform package is something he could work with the new Congress on passing. A John F. Kennedy-style tax cut would not merely be popular, but would be sound public policy that could help turn a sluggish economy into a more robust one.
This election should serve as a wake-up call to both President Clinton and the Democratic Party in general. The voters fired George Bush because he betrayed the Reagan legacy, not because he continued it. The president's own party activists might wail and gnash their teeth if Bill Clinton dared govern as a New Democrat; but judging by yesterday's results, the voters would likely have a different opinion. by CNB