Schumer Speaks at IOP

Sen. Charles E. “Chuck” Schumer ’71 addressed the Democratic Party’s need to achieve “concrete goals” in a forum at the Kennedy School of Government on Friday.

Referring to his book “Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time,” Schumer, the senior senator from New York, named the most pressing problems facing the middle class today.

The book, published in January, outlines 11 “concrete goals,” each of which is aimed at either increasing or reducing a statistic by 50 percent, such as raising reading and math scores by half, or decreasing dependence on foreign oil.

To accomplish such goals, Schumer suggested creating an “opt-in” program for public schools and an apolitical committee of experts to devise a long-term strategy for alternative energy.

Schumer invents the fictional characters of Joe and Eileen Bailey to represent a typical middle-class family.

“They’re real to me,” he said. “I have conversations with them. I’ve been talking to them for 15 years.”

Responding to a New York Times book review that labeled his 50-percent plan a “gimmick,” he told the audience, “The Baileys are skeptical of politics. They want to believe. They want something concrete.”

He added that whereas the Republicans were able to solidify their national platform in 2004 around “eight words”— “war in Iraq, cut taxes, no gay marriage”—the Democrats didn’t lay out a clear and purposeful agenda. He wrote his book to foster discussion and debate among the Democratic Party and better prepare it for the 2008 presidential election.

“Seventy-five percent of this [2006] election was a referendum on George Bush,” he said. “In 2008, we won’t have George Bush. If Democrats don’t have a platform, don’t have a vision, we’re going to lose.”

Student politicos packed the Institute of Politics forum.

“I really admire his vision in creating a Democratic agenda based on concrete goals that would resonate with the American people,” said Tyler R. Goin ’09. “Mixed with his frankness with the issues, he really pushed his point and made his argument more convincing.”

Schumer is endorsing N.Y. Sen. Hillary R. Clinton’s bid to become the first female president.

“We’re breaking barriers everywhere, and it’s great,” Schumer said about the appointment of Drew Gilpin Faust as Harvard’s first female president. “The more people are seen for their talents and not held back because of their race, sex, or ethnicity, the better America is.”

Schumer, who as an undergraduate was the president of the Harvard Democrats, had encouraging words to offer would-be politicians at a book signing at the Coop following his speech.

“Get involved. It’s one of the most fulfilling things you can do,” he said. “Keep your idealism and try to get things done.”

—Staff writer Brenda C. Maldonado can be reached at bmaldon@fas.harvard.edu.