Wellstone's Hat Trick
Wellstone's Hat Trick Before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1990, in a campaign that turned virtually all the conventional wisdom about contemporary politics on its head, Paul Wellstone was a...
...People are in an anti-status-quo mood...
...They feel ripped off—politically, economically...
...Call it populism, call it whatever you want, but it's about bread-and-butter politics...
...and the unwillingness of Democrats to take on some of the larger corporations and the financial institutions—so that people can see government on their side...
...If you're not willing to go after all the corporate welfare, if you're not willing to get out there with a real health-care reform bill that puts some real limits on insurance-company premiums, if you're not willing to lay that out, then it seems to me you're not going to tap into that great strain of genuine populism in this country, and you're not going to win...
...They feel the economic squeeze...
...Here is Wellstone's analysis of the political landscape: "There are three basic lessons to draw: "One is that it is very, very difficult for Democrats to win elections with a gaping hole in the electorate...
...So, clearly, in terms of looking to '96 and beyond, if you don't have a politics that captures the imagination of people—hopefully in style and substance—if you are unable to organize and galvanize people, especially hard-pressed people, you're not going to win...
...J.N...
...And at the moment what is filling that vacuum is a Gingrich politics...
...the failure of Democrats to tap into the genuine populism that exists in this country...
...Those were the failures of the Democrats...
...Second, populism is in the air in America...
...If they are heeded, he says, the Republican advances will be reversed...
...The third lesson, whether people want to admit this or not, is that Democrats had some of this coming: the failure of Democrats to take seriously the reform agenda, particularly campaign-finance reform, lobbying disclosure, the gift ban...
...Of course, that hole in the electorate is disproportionally low- and moderate-income families, working-income families...
...There is a politics of anger in the country...
...We have always had this conflict in America between these two types of populism—a reactionary populism and a more progressive populism...
...When he reads the tea leaves from the 1994 election, Wellstone sees clear lessons for 1996...
...the failure of Democrats to connect with people because they were too comfortable, too insulated...
...People don't feel represented...
...And it's time to turn things around if Democrats want to win in 1996...
...And even in a state like Minnesota, where we have same-day registration, we only had a 53 percent turnout...
...Nationally, it was a 61 percent hole last year—that's the percentage of voters that didn't cast ballots...
...I really think that the sooner Democrats get back to talking about the kind of politics that makes a concrete difference in people's lives—specifically a good education and a good job—and build a campaign around that, the better off Democrats will be...
...Senate in 1990, in a campaign that turned virtually all the conventional wisdom about contemporary politics on its head, Paul Wellstone was a college professor, progressive activist, and community organizer...
Vol. 59 • July 1995 • No. 7
