Tough Love for the Democrats

Until his departure from the primary field last week, John Edwards’ major contribution to the nominating contest was his ability to push Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to the left by articulating bold and comprehensive populist policies, even if his votes in the Senate did not match his campaign rhetoric. By issuing a detailed health care policy proposal early in the campaign, Edwards forced Clinton and Obama to get specific about the domestic issue of deepest concern to voters. His consistent calls for Congress to de-fund the war induced Clinton and Obama to stand with Senate progressives in an attempt to block war funding that did not include timetables.

With Edwards out of the race, Clinton and Obama must motivate themselves to stand on principle and fight for progressive ideals, even as they struggle to become candidates that can appeal to independent and undecided voters. Clinton and Obama must resist the temptation to follow the trails blazed by the likes of Senator John Kerry and Vice President Al Gore in their pursuit of general election victory. While centrism might poll better nationally and while studiously saying nothing might silence critics on the right, such a campaign strategy will doom these candidates to the same mediocrity which maligned Democratic campaigns in the previous two election cycles. Neither candidate can truly secure the mantle for change without advocating policies that will set the country in a fundamentally new direction.

It’s long past time for Democrats to stand up. Clinton can tout her experience, and Obama can assemble his forces for change, but Americans want results, and they do not want to wait another year. As the party prepares to line up behind one of these candidates, voters should hold them to a higher standard. Each claims to be an antidote to Republican abuse of the executive branch, and each insists that the country finds itself at a crossroads in history at which their respective leadership is necessary. Progressives expect those lofty claims to be reinforced by determined efforts to prod their lackadaisical caucus into action.

Upcoming votes in the Senate on the restructuring of FISA and on the economic stimulus package present a metric for activists to evaluate the two senators. Their action or inaction on these issues will demonstrate whether or not either candidate is a true mechanism for change.

Right now in Congress, the Bush administration and its enablers are once again resorting to fear-mongering and bullying to force through another daintily-named bill—the Protect America Act—a revision of the FISA law containing retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that forked over their clients’ private information to the Justice Department without being served a warrant. Encouragingly, both Clinton and Obama opposed the Republicans’ recent efforts to shut off debate on the bill, but how far are they willing to go in order to protect Americans’ civil liberties in the final years of the Bush assault on the Constitution? If the upcoming vote on the Dodd/Feingold amendment, which would remove retroactive immunity from the bill, fails, will they cave to administration pressure and vote for the legislation anyway, or will they lead their colleagues in saying enough is enough to the president? A continued opportunity for Senators Dodd and Feingold to upstage the presidential candidates on civil liberty issues will not inspire confidence that these individuals possess the courage or determination to undo the damage done to the Constitution.

On the economic front, Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently negotiated and jammed through the House of Representatives a stimulus package which addresses the retarding economy with the Republican cure-all: tax cuts. The Senate leadership has proven less spineless, on balance, and has insisted on the inclusion of unemployment benefits in the package, while, unfortunately, adding rebates for wealthy Americans as a means to secure Republican support for revisions of the House bill. As millions of Americans are being confronted by mortgage foreclosures, the country needs Obama and Clinton to stand up for a real economic stimulus that will help those hardest hit by the economic downturn through direct aid, not another tax cut. The presidential candidates must not follow the path of least resistance and must instead push for a stimulus package that addresses the core symptoms of the ailing economy.

Forget the polls and the prognostication. This election is going to come down to the wire, just like the previous two elections. Following Edwards’ departure from the race, it’s up to activists to keep the presidential candidates from driving to the center of the road, and students should lead the charge. We should alert Senators Obama and Clinton about opportunities to use their clout in the Senate to stand for progressive ideals. If we’ve learned anything from the previous two presidential elections, it’s that the voters will elect just about anybody if the Democratic nominee fails to stand for something. For the good of the Democratic Party and for the good of the country, students cannot stand by and let that happen.

The author is a Columbia College sophomore. He is the media director for the Columbia University College Democrats.