Bill Clinton and the Culture Wars

1. Bill Clinton and the Culture Wars

2. Post-Reagan America: The Issues • Post-Cold War: the “end of ideology”? • “New” economy: protectionism or globalisation? • Party system: a new Republican majority?

3. Patrick J. Buchanan, GOP national convention, 1992 There is a religious war going on in our country for the soul of America. It is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we will one day be as was the Cold War itself… The agenda Clinton & Clinton would impose on America--abortion on demand, a litmus test for the Supreme Court, homosexual rights, discrimination against religious schools, women in combat--that's change, all right. But it is not the kind of change… we can tolerate in a nation that we still call God's country.

4. The “Culture War” • Orthodox v progressive believers: authority of scripture • Correlated with urban v rural America; “red states” v “blue states” • Role in Republican strategy • 1990s issues: gays in military, gay marriage, abortion, sex education, school prayer… adultery

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10. The “New Democrats”: • A new “southern strategy” • Generational change • Moderate on cultural/social issues • Economic appeal to middle class • Agenda: crime, welfare, free trade

11. Clinton and the Culture War Clinton came to symbolise counterculture: drugs, “draft-dodging”, marital infidelities… BUT: • Southern Baptist upbringing, appeal to multiple religious constituencies • In Arkansas politics: had learned to appeal to conservative Democrats • A “third way”: e.g. Abortion should be “safe, legal…. and rare”

12. “It’s the economy, stupid” v. the solidification of the religious / partisan alignment in American politics & society

13. “People out here don’t care about the idle rhetoric of ‘left’ and ‘right’ and ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ and all the other words that have made our politics a substitute for action.” Bill Clinton, 1991

14. Republican Divisions

15. The 1988 Election

16. The 1992 Election

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18. “there is nothing wrong with America that cannot be put right with what is right with America”

19. But what did “New Democrat” mean? • “Culture Wars” issues: gays in military, “partial-birth” abortion, gun control: Clinton on “liberal” side? • “Liberal” on fiscal issues?: lack of interest in balanced budgets, raised taxes • “Big government”?: universal health insurance proposals …lost “moderate” image without shoring up liberal base

20. 1994 “Republican Revolution”

21. Oklahoma City Bomb, April 19, 2005. 168 killed; 800 injured

22. The politics of “triangulation” • “Common ground” speeches on key issues: abortion, capital punishment, gun control, “V-chips” (but vetoed “partial birth” abortion bill) • 1996: “the era of big government is over” (but supported raising minimum wage) • Signed 1996 welfare cuts (or “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act”)

23. The politics of “triangulation” • Key issue: budget deficits. Clinton accepted Gingrich’s goal of balancing budget, but not means of getting there: battle over protecting medicare and social security • Government shut-down Jan-Feb 1996

27. “A vast right-wing conspiracy”?

29. Impeachment • An unlikely alliance: Cultural conservatism plus licentious media • Importance of public opinion • Constitutional legacy? • Reinforced kulturkampf • Public disillusionment with politics • Contributed to decline of presidential prestige?

31. Clinton’s Agenda • Accepted the reality of globalisation: NAFTA, normalising trade with China • Intervention in Kosovo, military strikes against Iraq • Failed to get Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty ratified by Senate

32. Clinton and the Party System • Republican ascendancy? Critical election theory: 1968? 1980? 1994? Or the basis for a new post-Reagan Democratic majority? • 1968 onwards: an era of divided government, with 1994 signifying tilt to GOP? • Clinton as a “preemptive president” (Stephen Skowronek): “third way” politics, “triangulation”

33. Clinton’s Legacy for the Democratic Party KEY QUESTIONS: • Responsibility for 1994 GOP gains? • Did “triangulation” serve only his interest rather than Dems? • Distanced Dems from old liberalism? • Failed to convince party over foreign trade policy

34. The 1990s • An interlude between Cold War and “War on Terror” • Continued rise in inequality • Economic growth, low unemployment, interest rates AND inflation • Clinton: a trimmer who ducked the big questions and wasted an opportunity to revive liberalism, OR a gifted politician who tacked an effective middle way between liberals and the dominant conservatives?

35. Culture Wars…. or was it the economy, stupid, after all?