COLUMN: Clinton truly wishes for bipartisan cooperation
Pleas for bipartisanship are not surprising from either side of the aisle; we have heard the same sentiments echoing from Washington for the past four years.
In his first term, Clinton's pleas were like his campaign promises: hollow and without meaning. However, on this occasion I truly believe he means what he says.
In the beginning of his first term, Clinton did not need bipartisan support to pass anything he wished. He had at his disposal a Congress in which both houses were Democratically-controlled.
In those two years, Clinton could have introduced and passed any piece of legislation he promised in his first campaign. Congressional approval should have been a mere technicality. Despite this fact he could not even pass the cornerstone of his 1992 agenda: Hillary's socialized medicine system.
After the 1994 elections, when he really needed Republican help, the president not only shunned GOP support, he led an all-out effort to discourage it. Clinton missed his opportunity for bipartisanship.
The GOP offered him plenty of chances to not only show that he could cooperate, but also to look good doing it. This president could have, despite his serious ethical and character flaws, put his mark on American history as one of the most productive and popular chief executives ever.
The congressional Republicans offered three separate balanced budget proposals in 1995 and 1996, none of which were ever seriously considered. Instead, President Clinton allowed the federal government to shut down and took the opportunity to score politically by using a willing media to blame the whole situation on the "mean-spirited" Congress.
When the GOP offered a proposal to save Medicare, the nation instead received an overdose of a bad medicine called Mediscare. Despite the fact that the Republican proposal called for an annual increase in benefits that was nearly twice the rate of inflation, Clinton termed the package to be full of "cuts."
Yes, Clinton had plenty of chances for bipartisanship -- the bills were sitting right there on his desk in the Oval Office. Instead of accepting the olive branch, he took a blowtorch and smoked it.
The '94 elections were not a political aberration resulting from an angry-white-male electorate but were instead a true gauge of where the political center of this country lies. By metamorphosing into a quasi-conservative during the elections, the president admitted his realization that the Republican Congress is here to stay.
Clinton is not a stupid man -- far from it, in fact. He knows that if he is to accomplish anything in his second term, Republican help is vital. Clinton has already taken one solid step by going out of his way to appoint a Republican, William Cohen, to his new cabinet as secretary of defense.
Couple this with the fact that his famed bridge is looking these days more like a bridge over troubled waters -- with looming scandals such as the Indonesian fundraising affair -- and you can see why getting along inside the Beltway will hopefully receive more than lip service from the president and the Democratic Party.
Allen Lewis is co-chairman of Rice Republicans and a Lovett College senior.
This item appeared in the Opinion section of the January 24, 1997 issue.
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