Is there a future for New Dems?

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Oct 12, 1998 | by Michael Rust

And indeed, the New Democrats hardly appear to be dying. Many who united around the DLC believe that the last six years, when all is said and done, have been good for their movement. "We stood from the beginning for fiscal restraint oriented toward progressive purposes; for the intelligent embrace of the global economy; for the end of welfare as we knew it," says Galston, citing welfare reform and the balanced budget as two mainstays of New Democrat policy enacted by the Democratic president and GOP Congress. In education, he says, New Democrats are pushing for higher standards and charter schools, supported by the administration. "When you run the policy tab, Galston concludes, "the results from a New Democrat perspective are encouraging."

Meanwhile, the roster of potential Democratic rivals to Gore is dominated by Democrats who have been associated with the DLC. Sen. Robert Kerrey of Nebraska is the leading Democratic proponent of Social Security reform that includes some measure of privatization. Former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey, who supported aid to anticommunist Nicaraguan contras in the 1980s, also has been associated with the DLC. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut is a former DLC chairman and was the first Democrat in the Senate to attack Clinton's behavior in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Of would-be Democratic presidential nominees, only Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota is presenting himself as an unabashed old-style liberal.

But some Democrats remain skeptical. Organized labor has objected to trade policies associated with economic globalism -- and the labor movement of today is not the same as it was when the New Democrats began to raise their voices. There have been reports of a possible detente between the DLC and AFL-CIO, and that has some New Democrat stalwarts worried. Twenty years ago, organized labor was a bulwark against radicalism within the party, but the nature of the labor movement has changed. The AFL-CIO now is dominated by public-sector unions, whose interests tend to be at odds with centrist Democrat views.

With populist elements in both parties opposing most favored nation, or MFN, trade status for China, as well as bailouts of foreign governments by the taxpayer-subsidized International Monetary Fund, or IMF, support for business interests also has transcended party lines. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are strong supporters of MFN status for China, as well as for full funding for the IMF. The Business and Industry Political Action Committee has gone out of its way to court pro-corporate Democratic congressional candidates.

This was apparent in July, when the New Democratic Network brought eight congressional candidates to Washington to try out their stump speeches on potential donors. The hopefuls emphasized their support for free trade, with several Democrats saying they would use those issues against GOP opponents. "Trade is enormous," says Democrat Tom Udall, who is challenging incumbent GOP Rep. Bill Redmond of New Mexico, an opponent of the IMF. "One of the things I'm proudest of is the relationship we've built with the business community," says Udall, the nephew of former Rep. Morris Udall of Arizona, a longtime liberal icon.