Reich Outlines American Vision

Calling for the Democratic party to return to its historically working-class agenda, former Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich articulated his vision for the party's future last night in the Lowell House Junior Common Room.

In an event sponsored by the Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats, the former Kennedy School of Government (KSG) professor spoke to an audience of 32 students and local Democratic party representatives.

Reich, who is currently Hecksher Professor of Social and Economic Policy at Brandeis University, did not offer much hope for Democrats aspirations of a mid-term revolution of the nation's Republican-dominated Congress.

"I don't expect there to be much change," Reich said, noting the advantage incumbents would have with a buoyant economy and chiding his party for failing to formulate a coherent set of Democratic goals.

But after laying out this bleak out-look for the short term, Reich dismissed it, shifting the focus of his speech from a discussion of Washington politics to one on the themes relevant to the Democratic Party at the turn of the millennium.

"Let me step back from all of this," he said, "because all of this is a lot of baloney."

Reich predicted the Democratic Party was approaching a watershed moment within the next two years when it would make a crucial decision as to what course it would chart for itself.

"That decision," said Reich, "is whether the Democratic party is the party of the underdog in American society...whether its mission is to provide genuine opportunity to people in the bottom two thirds or whether it is just another political party, like the Republicans, but with a slightly different constellation of values."

For his part, Reich admitted he was in favor of the former interpretation of his party's position, noting the importance of staking "ground which had not been staked," in reference to the large pool of young Americans in search of a compelling political message.

To attract what he called this "party of the non-voter," he recommended focusing on one or two large issues, such as universal health care and educational reform.

His ideas evidently found favor with the leadership of the College Democrats, whose president, Michael J. Passante '99 said he "agreed with the basic plan the Professor laid out."

Despite this official endorsement, Reich did draw fire from at least one audience member who disagreed with his opinion on social security.

Paul K. Nitze '00, a Crimson editor, questioned Reich's contention that the social security crisis was "mythological" and warned the current pay-as-you go system was bound to bankrupt itself.

Reich closed with a call to arms to his audience, as he incited them to become leaders in their own right.

Leadership, said Reich, is about "holding people's attention to the hardest problems that their community has to deal with and not letting them escape, not letting them escape."