Kentucky Kernel -- January 28, 1997

<BODY BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF LINK=#0066ff ALINK=#0066ff VLINK=#660000> <BLOCKQUOTE>    <CENTER> <FONT SIZE=6> <B>Paul Tsongas was the true leader we needed in '92 race</B><P> </FONT> </CENTER> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Todd Baggarly</B><BR></FONT>Kernel Columnist <HR> Over the course of the inaugural weekend, the focus of the national attention was directed to the celebratory events: the second inauguration of President Clinton and the reaffirmation of the nation's commitment to one day realizing Martin Luther King's hopeful vision of a world without bigotry or hatred.<P> Almost overlooked in all of this was the tragic death at age 55 of former Massachusetts senator Paul Tsongas. On Saturday, he died from liver failure and pneumonia brought on from complications of the treatment that he had received from a recurrence of lymphoma, a form of cancer.Tsongas first came to national prominence in 1991. President Bush still enjoyed approval ratings in opinion polls that made it appear he was certain to win re-election. <P> The Democratic Party's leading contenders, including Bill Bradley, Al Gore and Mario Cuomo, decided not to challenge President Bush. <P> In contrast, Tsongas, citing an unwillingness to accept the "mediocrity" that had been a hallmark of the Bush administration's policy on domestic issues, was the first person to enter the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. <P> At first, he was dismissed as a non-factor; no astute political observer believed that he had a chance to be nominated or to challenge Bush successfully. He had served only two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and one term in the U.S. Senate before initially leaving public life to be treated for lymphoma. <P> Moreover, Tsongas wasn't the kind of candidate one would expect to win the nomination of the Democratic Party. While most candidates are boisterous, charismatic, and have a strong stage presence, Tsongas possessed none of these. Instead, he spoke in a dry, abrasive voice that led many commentators to compare him to Elmer Fudd. <P> A bigger weakness that most observers thought would make him too unappealing to Democratic primary voters, though, was his ideology. <P> Although on social issues and the environment he described himself as an "unapologetic liberal," on the economy he took positions that were the epitome of fiscal responsibility. <P> During the 1992 campaign, the other candidates got into a bidding war over who could deliver the biggest batch of tax cuts to the electorate. Tsongas, however, steadfastly opposed cuts on income tax rates citing the need to balance the budget as a goal that could be delayed no longer. His concern over the deficit also led him, like congressional Republicans in the 104th Congress, to call for the restructuring of programs like Medicare and Social Security which consume an ever-increasing share of federal revenues. <P> As the primary race shifted from the Northeast to states like Florida where senior citizens represented a larger share of the electorate, Bill Clinton, as he would later do to congressional Republicans, attacked Tsongas on this issue, eventually sapping the momentum from his campaign until Tsongas' financing dried up and he was no longer able to continue in the campaign. <P> This, however, would not mark the end of his efforts to create a milieu in which the deficit, and what must be done to bring it under control, could be discussed by politicians without fear of reprisals from the electorate. <P> Along with Warren Rudman, a senator from New Hampshire who retired in 1992, Tsongas founded the Concord Coalition to inform the public about budgetary issues and to suggest what kinds of steps are requisite if the national government is to avoid drowning in red ink. <P> It has been said that bad government is produced when enough good people stop caring and cease to be involved in the decision-making process that helps craft the policies that affect all of us. <P> Tsongas' death takes a statesman of the kind that we desperately need today out of America's public life. He served his country well. Those of us, the younger generations, who would have benefited the most from the changes that he strove for should not forget the effort that he put forth in attempting to keep the American Dream within our reach. <P> Similarly, if the kind of changes that he proposed are ever to come about, we must be the ones to put forth the effort to ensure that they happen. <P> <P> <center><i>Kernel Columnist Todd Baggerly is a political science graduate student; his views do not necessarily represent those of the Kentucky Kernel.</i></center> <P>    <HR> <P> <CENTER> <FONT SIZE=5> [ <A HREF="welcome.html">Contents</A> | <a href="http://www.kykernel.com">Home</A> | <A HREF="/archive.html">Archives</A> | <A HREF="/feed.html">Feedback</A> ]<BR> </FONT> <P> <B>© Copyright 1997, Kernel Press Inc. All Rights Reserved</B><BR>  </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY>