Dems Should Stick Together

On behalf of the Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats, we are writing to respond to Andrei Cerny's editorial, "Harvard Pols Need Vision" (Jan. 12).

It is a shame that while trying to assert a good idea, namely that Democrats need to stand for something and not just against Republicans, Cerny gets lost in a swarm of reckless generalizations and downright false-hoods about the College Democrats. We would like to begin by responding to a few of them.

For instance, Cerny somehow beat the impression that "Harvard Democrats have been AWOL from any real campus discussion of issues and ideas." Obviously, Cerny has not been paying attention. Obviously, he neither read the Crimson article about College Dems' endorsement of the autonomy of the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) nor saw us displaying our club's banner at the PBHA rally.

Obviously, Cerny did not attend the rally at Government Center in november protesting the cuts in student aid. If he had, he would have seen at least a dozen Harvard Democrats (and hundreds of college Democrats from other area colleges) on the front lines of the battle over an issue crucial to students.

Obviously, Cerny missed out on an excellent debate between us and the Republican Club on the issue of welfare. If he had been there, he would have seen the College Democrats offering not "a defense of the status quo" but exactly what he calls for in his editorial--"progressive" solutions to "end the pervasive cycle of poverty," such as raising the minimum wage, improving public education and job training, expanding tax credits for the working poor, providing child care for single parents who want to work and extending health care coverage for those who fear losing their Medicaid coverage by getting a job. We have been focusing on "real solutions." Mr. Cerny hasn't been listening.

We would like to extend an offer of free membership to Andrei Cerny so that he can see for himself that the College Democrats have plenty of fresh ideas to offer. We are coming off an extraordinary year of growth in enthusiasm and in membership under the leadership of former president Derek T. Ho '96. We do not know how the usually professional U.S. News and World Report could print a fallacy like "young Republicans outnumber Democrats 3 to 1," but their editors clearly failed to check their facts.

Unfortunately, the progressive ideas of Democrats have not been driving the national political debate over the past year. Rather, it has been the radical Republican assault on working Americans, the "vast middle" that Cerny speaks of. The only reason that Democrats seem on the defensive is that Republicans are trying to roll back a century of social progress. We are not ashamed to defend what we and the vast majority of Americans believe in--student aid, protection of our environment, care for our elders, the social safety net--from attacks by the cabal of right-wing extremists led by Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). If Democrats fail to stand up for those not at the top, no one will.

This is not the time for Democrats to be divided. --Seth D. Hanlon '96, President   Eric S. Olney '98, Vice President   Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats