Last week, President Clinton called the Republicans’ bluff: He not only held his ground on affirmative action within the new constraints of the Supreme Court ruling in Adarand Constructors Inc. vs. Pena, but told the angry white males they’ve been duped by the GOP into thinking race-and gender-based preferences are the reason for their economic woes.
“If the real goal is empowering all middle class Americans and empowering poor people to work their way into the middle class without regard to race or gender,” asked Clinton, “why in the world would the people who advocate that turn around and raise taxes on our poorest working families, or reduce the money available for education and training when they lose their jobs or they’re living on poverty wages, or increase the cost of housing for lower-income, working people with children?”
Politically, the speech was risky, bold and brilliant all in one.
It is not coincidental that Clinton integrated budget issues into his affirmative action address. On both fronts, the White House wants to persuade the American electorate that in its zest and zeal to reform the political system the GOP-led Congress (including presidential hopefuls like Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole, R-Kan., Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and who knows, possibly even House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.) has overstepped.
The strategy is perhaps the president’s best chance for re-election.
The decisions to resubmit a new budget (supposedly against the advice of some confidants) and his reaffirmation of affirmative action may mark the return of the Comeback Kid, who’s been on the run ever since Republicans took control of Congress after last fall’s midterm election.
But it’s a long time between now and the primaries, giving Clinton ample time to bungle other issues.
Affirmative action is not just any issue, though. It is the defining issue of our nation’s history, the reason United precedes States.
Clinton, like the GOP, is using affirmative action for political purposes. To have abandoned the policy, he risked losing support of women and minorities that comprise the foundation of his political base.
A less cynical view is that he believes in affirmative action. It came through loud and clear in his speech. If Americans come to believe his rebuttal that GOP leaders are pandering to them in the name of affirmative action, Republican hopes for capturing the White House will suffer a big set back and they may have to be content with running Congress.
The day before the president declared “Affirmative action is good for America” in last Wednesday’s speech at the National Archives, home of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Federal Communications Commission removed race-and gender-based bidding credits from the Aug. 29 entrepreneur block auction of personal communications services licenses.
The timing of the Adarand decision so close to the entrepreneur auction left regulators with no choice but to remove risk of subsequent legal challenges to female and minority winners.
Clinton gave FCC Chairman Reed Hundt his blessing to continue qualified affirmative action programs. Let the record be developed.
