SMOKE AND MIRRORS
Gore talks left in bid to hold Democratic base
By Fred Goldstein
There were several problems facing Vice President Al Gore
when he made his Aug. 17 speech accepting the Democratic
presidential nomination.
He was down 18 points in the polls from his Republican
opponent, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
Gore's chances were rapidly eroding because his politics
were completely aligned with the vacillating Clinton/New
Democrat policies.
Gore was openly friendly to big business, having recently
played errand boy for the pharmaceutical companies in their
effort to block the South African government's search for an
affordable response to the AIDS crisis.
Gore, like President Bill Clinton, had vacillated on
affirmative action and women's right to choose abortion. In
general, he was not saying anything to appeal to the masses
or any progressive segment of the population.
The vice president aggravated his own situation when he
picked Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate. Lieberman
is one of the most conservative elements in the national
Democratic leadership. He has been an outspoken opponent of
affirmative action, a supporter of school vouchers, and a
friend of the anti-Cuba right wing.
To make Gore's situation even more difficult, the
anti-corporate campaign of Ralph Nader, directed against the
two big capitalist parties, was gaining ground.
The corporate media attempted to reduce the Gore
campaign's pre-convention crisis to a personality contest.
They said his style was stodgy and too formal. He had to
improve his style, they advised.
But the Gore forces, in their desperate attempt to salvage
the campaign, grasped that style was not really the issue.
No, they had to find some means to differentiate their
candidate from Bush in a way that would be discernable to
some section of the progressive masses.
Thus his campaign advisors decided that Gore should adopt
a posture of being against the wealthy and powerful and on
the side of "working families." Gore, in fact, borrowed the
"working families" slogan from the AFL-CIO as a way to appeal
to union members.
To that end, when Gore finally mounted the platform at the
Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, he railed
against the HMOs, the pharmaceutical monopolies and Big
Oil.
Struggle over party platform
How much credence should workers and oppressed people give
to Gore's last-minute change of tune? Consider what went on
behind the scenes at the convention before the Democratic
nominee's speech.
In the bitter struggle over the party platform, the Gore
forces blocked any and all attempts to insert language
against the death penalty, for more assistance to the poor,
to cut military spending, or for universal health care.
Of course, the bourgeois parties' written programs
ultimately amount to nothing. They are just pieces of paper
to be torn up after the candidate is elected.
But to some extent they do register the feelings of the
delegates. In the case of the Democrats this included many
African Americans and labor unionists. The fight over the
program resulted in declining morale among the Democratic
base as represented at the convention.
A sure warning signal was the comment by Willy Brown, the
African American mayor of San Francisco, who said that Gore
was out of touch with the Democrats' base. Brown advised Gore
to spend every Sunday between now and Election Day in a Black
church, meaning it would take a big effort for Gore to
generate enthusiasm with African American voters.
In a nutshell, Gore's problem is that he is a prisoner of
the political atmosphere he helped create as part of the
Clinton administration's drive to the right. This included
collaborating with the Gingrich Republican forces in
dismantling welfare, strengthening the racist death penalty,
saying that the era of "big government" is over, and carrying
out the destruction of much of the New Deal-era
legislation.
Gore's advisors chose to break out of this trap by
rhetorical means. They put words of concern for the masses in
his mouth, though most of his new image was smoke and
mirrors. So Gore came out unequivocally for affirmative
action and Roe vs. Wade. He deliberately repudiated the
Clinton/Lieberman formulation on affirmative action, "mend
it, don't end it."
He came out for prescription drug coverage for seniors,
which the Clinton administration has long promoted but failed
so far to put into effect. He called for health insurance for
children; but this has already been half done, and is part of
a plan of minimum maintenance in place of a real universal
health-care program.
All this amounts to a pile of election promises without a
heap of conviction. The small reforms Gore promised are
predicated on the swing of the capitalist economy and the
cooperation of the legislative bodies. By the time these
modest measures take shape they will likely be compromised or
shredded to pieces.
Gore bought and paid for
Gore and the Democratic leadership are perpetrating a
fraud when they say they are for the workers and the
poor.
Gore is part and parcel of the rich and powerful, who paid
for the Democratic Convention. The Democratic leadership is
loyal and beholden to them.
For all his talk about working families, Gore didn't once
mention unions or the right to organize. He wasn't about to
challenge the military, so there was no hint of criticism of
the "don't ask, don't tell" policy used to witch hunt
lesbians and gay men.
Gore wants to spend the budget surplus to pay off the
national debt, but he didn't mention the 43 million people
without health insurance. He talked about a "patient's bill
of rights," but what does that mean when health care is in
the hands of the insurance companies? What about the $300
billion military budget?
He talked about further increasing the repressive forces
under the rubric of "community policing." That amounts to
trying to put a kind face on the racist police brutality that
is running rampant all over the country.
He said nothing about the ballooning prison population or
the fact that more prisons than schools are being built in
some areas. There was no mention of the continued existence
of sweatshops, or of unorganized workers, who have no
protection, benefits or rights in the face of the greedy
bosses.
Gore didn't say anything about taking away some of Wall
Street's obscene profits to feed hungry children. In fact,
Gore said precisely nothing that fundamentally challenges the
capitalist class in any way.
The fact is, Gore's promises amount to nothing. Clinton,
like Gore, said he was for women's right to choose. But under
Clinton hundreds of doctors stopped performing abortions,
schools stopped offering training to abortion providers, and
rural and poor women lost access to reproductive
services.
So while posturing demagogically for this right, Clinton
allowed it to be eroded by terrorism and neglect. The same is
true for affirmative action.
It should not be forgotten that in the Clinton-Gore
administration, Gore constituted the right wing. The two of
them abandoned Black law professor Lani Guinier after
appointing her assistant attorney general for human rights.
They teamed up to boot Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders when
she made a modest progressive attempt on sex education. They
championed NAFTA.
The Clinton-Gore team has a horrible record. There's no
reason to think Gore will do any better if he gets into the
White House as a tool of the monopolies.
Gore's posturing against the rich and powerful is the
oldest trick of capitalist politics. No one should be fooled
by it. Whether Gore or Bush wins in November, the capitalist
class wins.
The working class doesn't need to wait years and years
just to suffer rotten compromises over how many crumbs will
be thrown from the table. The workers need to organize and
mobilize. Instead of pouring money into the campaigns of one
or another big-business politician, the unions need to put it
into the struggle.
Building the struggle is the only way the workers will win
gains and keep them.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS
:: SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page