Democrat Roll

On November 5, 1996, the American people, in a coast-to-coast electoral landslide, re-elected a Democratic president for the first time in more than a half century. And, although Congress remains in Republican hands, more Americans voted Democrat for Congress than Republican. The American people sent the message that they are pleased with the steady progress Bill Clinton has made as our leader, supportive of his proposals for reform and tired of petty partisanship.

The 1996 election did not, as many Democrats had hoped, put the Democrats back in the majority in Congress. Newt Gingrich and his allies in Congress realized the unpopularity of their ideas well before the election. Republicans often accuse Bill Clinton of talking like a Republican, but this year it was Republicans who were talking like Democrats. Republicans took credit for the increase in the minimum wage and the health insurance reform bill that came out of the 104th Congress only after a tremendous fight by Democrats and massive resistance from Republicans. Republicans tried to excuse their inexcusable raids on Medicare while saying that they were only trying to "save" it. Newt took an extended vacation from the public view, and Republican incumbents all across the country ran from him and from their votes supporting his agenda. In 1996, congressional Republicans were on the defensive, scrambling at the 11th hour to give themselves a moderate image and to save their political lives. On Election Day, this strategy saved many of the Republicans in Congress, particularly the first-years, dozens of whom won by extremely slim margins in their districts.

Meanwhile, Bill Clinton ran on his strong economic record, his resistance to Republican extremism and his proposals for reform. Voters re-elected him in a tremendous electoral landslide and a comfortable eight-point margin over Bob Dole. Bill Clinton's victory was not hollow. He put forth bold proposals, especially in the area of education. President Clinton wants to guarantee that every American student will be able to afford college, and his plan of tax breaks and deductions will help to achieve that goal. Hopefully, over the next two years, Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott will be able to sit down with President Clinton and work out legislation on these issues. If the American people (particularly the 51 percent who stayed home) sent any crystal-clear message in this year's elections, it was that they are sick of partisan bickering and inaction.

Three electoral trends emerged in this year's election that bode well for the Democratic Party. The first is the enduring gender gap. Women voted Democratic for Congress by a margin of 55-45 and went for Bill Clinton over Bob Dole 53-34, according to exit polls. The Republican Party will have major problems reaching out to women, particularly to working mothers. On the issues of funding for education and health care, and on the divisive issue of a woman's right to choose, Republicans fail to speak to the concerns of American women. Women now constitute a majority of the electorate--good news for the Democratic Party.

The second electoral trend is the growing influence of Latino voters. Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic group in the United States, and hundreds of thousands register to vote every year. In the 1996 presidential election, the Latino vote was particularly crucial in California and also in Florida and Arizona, two states that went Democratic for the first time in decades largely because of the Latino vote. The emergent political power of Latinos was evident in the race for California's 46th district, where Loretta Sanchez defeated Rep. Bob Dornan, known for his rhetorical bombast and unreconstructed xenophobia. The Republicans' attempts to restrain immigration and to cut back health and educational benefits for legal immigrants did not win them favor among Latino (or Asian) voters. Unless the Republican Party can purge itself of its recurrent tendencies toward nativism and xenophobia, it will continue to lose the growing Latino vote to the Democrats.

Finally, a resurgent organized labor movement demonstrated that it still has relevance and electoral power. The AFL-CIO--although outspent by corporate PACs by a margin of about four-to-one--produced a nationwide ad campaign that framed many of the crucial issues of the 1996 election and put Republicans on the defensive for their attacks on crucial domestic programs such as Medicare and student aid. Labor was most powerful here in Massachusetts. Working men and women stood up for a pro-labor Senator, John Kerry, and defeated a formidable Republican candidate in Gov. Bill Weld. Labor was also crucial in the defeats of Republican incumbents Reps. Peter Blute and Peter Torkildsen in the third and sixth districts. Spurred into action by the Gingrich agenda but also by broader social forces such as the growing income disparity, wage stagnation and downsizing, the American labor movement is on the rise once again.

Seth D. Hanlon '98 is the president of the Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats.