Lessons of 1992 (Summary)

The people are starting to feel like it is 1992 again because of the presidency and the economy. So let’s review the sad tale, starting with the politics. Whatever hopes people might have had that Mr. Clinton would usher in a new era of national unity were quickly dashed. Instead, from Day 1 they faced an all-out assault from conservatives determined to use any means at hand to discredit a Democratic president.

No accusation was considered too outlandish: a group supported by Jerry Falwell put out a film suggesting that the Clintons had arranged for the murder of an associate, and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page repeatedly hinted that Bill Clinton might have been in cahoots with a drug smuggler. Meanwhile, though Mr. Clinton may not have run as postpartisan a campaign as legend has it; he did avoid some conflict by being strategically vague about policy. In particular, he promised health care reform, but left the business of producing an actual plan until after the election.

The failure of health care reform, in turn, doomed the Clinton presidency to second-rank status. The government was well run (something we’ve learned to appreciate now that we’ve seen what a badly run government looks like), but as Mr. Obama correctly says there was no change in the country’s fundamental trajectory. So what are the lessons for today’s Democrats? Any Democrat who makes it to the White House can expect the same treatment: an unending procession of wild charges and fake scandals, dutifully given credence by major media organizations that somehow can’t bring themselves to declare the accusations unequivocally false.

Second, the policy proposals candidates run on matter. Mr. Obama’s rejection of health insurance mandates, which are an essential element of any workable plan for universal coverage, doesn’t really matter, because by the time health care reform gets through Congress it will be very different from the president’s initial proposal anyway. If the next president doesn’t arrive with a plan that is a broadly workable outline, by the time the things get fixed the window of opportunity may well have passed. What the Democrats should do is get back to talking about issues, a focus on issues has been the great contribution of John Edwards to this campaign, and about who is best prepared to push their agenda forward.