A New Choice, Not A Third Party
The 1996 campaign has brought Ross Perot's true motivations into full, clear view. Despite his repeated assertions that the Reform Party was not about him, his undemocratic behavior towards former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm's candidacy proved otherwise.
After luring Lamm into the race, Perot immediately announced his intentions to run for the nomination, hoping victory would bring his candidacy some long-needed legitimacy. However, a fatally flawed nomination process, heavily tilted in Perot's favor, prevented that achievement. To make matters worse, less than five percent of all mailed ballots were returned as part of the final tally.
As we have heard, it's Perot's party and he can buy it if he wants to. Before taking on the country's serious problems, maybe he should first reform the Reform Party.
Without question, Americans want a third political choice. Almost 40 percent call themselves independents and 60 percent are open to a third party presidential candidate. These voters are genuinely tired of the left's reflexive defense of the bureaucratic status quo and the right's destructive bid to indiscreetly dismantle government.
The electorates' hopes for real change were dashed after the 1994 election. Perot voters learned that Republicans were really no different from the Democrats - only the faces of the served special interests changed.
Unfortunately, Ross Perot's unviable candidacy serves as an obstacle to a meaningful third choice for Americans. While his billions allow him to stay in the game (and in the way), many voters believe his erratic personality is not fit to be president. What's more, it is too much of a contradiction when Perot seeks to buy the system he says should not be purchased.
Mainstream voters will only experience even more frustration with the system. Perot temporarily blocks either party from wooing these folks this election, providing Democrats and Republicans stronger incentives to energize their most reliable, core voters. In the short-term, Democrats will go farther to the left and Republicans will move over to the hard right.
Perot's lack of credibility and minimal support will strip away a too-small portion of the "radical middle" vote to make enough of a difference. After the election, Americans will just be facing increased political polarization and the same old debate. His real legacy will just be more gridlock.
Nonetheless, the growing number of disenchanted citizens with the two main parties makes a political realignment inevitable. One way or another, eventually, one will find a way to include these voters in its coalition.
Democrats have a long-term opportunity to get ahead of the curve, break gridlock, shed special-interest politics and build a new idea-based coalition for real change. My party must see beyond its short-term interest in playing trivial partisan gamesmanship.
According to a survey, Perot voters are concerned about reviving the economy, reducing the deficit and reforming government. Just as importantly, they seek a stronger emphasis on the values of work, family and individual responsibility. Many believe these mainstream values are no longer honored or rewarded in America.
Democrats can become a long-term viable political force again only if they follow President Clinton's lead on stressing personal responsibility with issues like welfare reform and national service. Simply put, America needs a new ethic of no more something-for-nothing.
In contrast to Senator Dole's warmed-over Reaganomics plan, Democrats should confront stagnant incomes by eliminating corporate welfare and reforming entitlements. The budgetary savings should be used for the real ingredients of opportunity in the New Economy - deficit reduction (which reduces upward pressure on interest rates and encourages capital formation), education and training, advanced basic research and development, and communications and transportation systems.
Finally, Democrats must replace the old politics of topdown paternalism with a new politics of individual and civic empowerment. Because Americans can no longer rely on big organizations to take care of us, it is time to craft new policies and institutions that enable us to take care of ourselves and each other.
This new agenda demands political audacity and imagination not seen in America since Franklin Roosevelt launched the New Deal. New Democrats realize that moving from a government that controls, to one that enables, will only happen with a fight.
If Democrats are to survive, the politics of interest-group incrementalism will not do. We must embrace a true ideas-based agenda of radical reform rooted in mainstream values.
Jim Gibson is President of the Colorado Democratic Leadership Council, a group of elected officials and activists that advocate new public policy ideas and the Democratic Party's historic commitment to economic growth, personal responsibility, individual liberty and equal opportunity.