Reinventing Democrats [Hardcover]

Kenneth S. Baer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 2000

When Bill Clinton declared in 1996 that "the era of big government is over," Republicans felt that he was stealing their thunder. But in fact, it was the culmination of a decade-long struggle for the heart and soul of the Democratic party. This book tells how a group of New Democrats reformed their enfeebled party's agenda, moved it toward the center, and recaptured the White House with their first two-term president since FDR. Reinventing Democrats is the story of the Democratic Leadership Council, an elite group of elected officials, benefactors, and strategists that let fresh air into the smoke-filled room of politics and changed the public philosophy of their party. Kenneth Baer tells who they are, where they came from, what they believe in, and how they helped elect Bill Clinton--the DLC's former chairman--to the presidency. Drawing on DLC archives and interviews with party insiders, Baer chronicles the increasing influence of the DLC from 1985 to the present. He describes battles waged between New Democrats and party liberals after the failed candidacy of Walter Mondale, and he takes readers behind the scenes in Little Rock to tell how DLC director Al From encouraged Clinton's run for the White House. He then explains how the DLC reshaped the party's agenda into a "third way" that embraced positions such as welfare reform, a balanced budget, free trade, a tough stance on crime, and a strong defense. In this revealing analysis of insider politics, Baer shows how a determined faction can consciously change a party's public philosophy, even without the impetus of a national crisis or electoral realignment. He also shows that the New Democrat stance exemplifies how ideas can work in sync with the political calendar to determine which specific policies find their way onto the national agenda. If Clinton achieved nothing else in his presidency, says Baer, he moved his party to the center, where it stood a better chance to succeed--much to the dismay of conservatives, who felt victimized by the theft of many of their strongest issues. Baer reveals the role of new ideas in shaping political stratagems and provides much food for thought concerning the evolution of the Democratic party and American party politics.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Just in time for the 2000 presidential election, Baer, a former Oxford scholar now living in Washington, DC, has produced an excellent account of the making of the new Democratic Party. He argues that the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), working behind the scenes but within the party, developed an alternative political philosophy to replace the one that appeared to be failing--a liberalism based on social justice and the redistribution of wealth. The irony here is that this "new" philosophy closely resembles that of FDR's New Deal. By chronicling the events leading from the formation of the DLC (with much-deserved attention given to the role of Al From) through Clinton's nomination in 1992 and the election of 1998, Baer ably demonstrates that a major shift in a party's identity (and its voters' allegiance) can occur in the absence of a national crisis or a realigning election. This excellent book blends history and politics with careful political analysis. Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the new Democratic Party and to gauge its potential for future success.
-Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, PA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A detailed, accessible, and useful account of how an important political institution made friends and influenced people." -- Washington Monthly

"A thorough study of the DLC phenomenon." -- Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Compelling and important. . . Provides valuable insight into the party's recent past and what it might mean for the future." -- Bob Kolasky, IntellectualCapital.com

"Indispensable." -- The American Prospect

"The first formal history of how the Democratic Party transformed itself. . . An important contribution to the literature on American politics." -- The Indianapolis Star

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of Kansas (February 9, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 070061009X
• ISBN-13: 978-0700610099
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #554,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Answer Key for Elected Officials, February 16, 2000

By 

Russ Nadler (Concord, NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reinventing Democrats (Hardcover)

This intelligent and exhaustively researched book outlines -- in a style that both political junkies and normal readers alike will find engaging -- how Bill Clinton and like-minded Democrats, for all of their foibles, truly became the political "comeback kids" of the late twentieth century. George W. Bush and Bill Bradley would do well to stop ignoring the lessons Baer teaches, and aspiring leaders from around the world undoubtedly will turn to this book as an answer key for the tests voters put before them on election days.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reinventing my interest in Democrats, February 15, 2000

By 

Brian A. Reich "Baseball Fan and Author of Me... (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reinventing Democrats (Hardcover)

Baer challenges you to think about politics in a way the media doesn't want you to -- a constructive way. With information that only an insider could love, and logic that even the most non-political of readers can enjoy, he moves beyond the accusations and division that sour our politics of today to the source of the changes in the Democratic Party over the past decade. He traces how the party that brought us Jefferson and Jackson re-invented itself(to use his wording) back into the party of mainstream values and progressive politics. Politicians and policy-wonks alike will use Baer's manifesto as a roadmap for how to reach voters and capture a message that will bring about both electoral success and the ability to govern for years to come.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Democratic Party's recent history and near future, January 10, 2003

By 

Jon R. Schlueter (Grand Terrace, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reinventing Democrats (Hardcover)

Reinventing Democrats chronicles the efforts of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) to shift the Democratic Party from its liberal orientation to a more centrist position. It details the DLC's strategies, its successes and its failures up to the 2000 primaries, before the Democratic Party had selected a candidate. It makes a compelling case that the Democratic Party needs to (1) select public policies that are fiscally responsible, business friendly, and, in short, consonant with middle-class values and (2) eschew or de-emphasize policies that are attractive primarily to the party's issue-activists -- this being necessary to occupy the mainstream of American political thought and avoid becoming politically marginalized. This message is particularly relevant now (2003) that some Democrats are panicking over the 2002 mid-term election results and calling for a shift back to the left, effectively seeking to reverse the successful course set by Clinton after the disaster of the 1994 mid-term elections.

Clinton was elected on a New Democrat (i.e. DLC) platform, but he commenced to govern, or was perceived to govern, with a liberal agenda. This led to his plummeting popularity and the mid-term disaster of 1994, and at the time it appeared he would be retired after one term. Since a good scare is always more valuable than good advice, he embraced a New Democratic agenda in his second two years and, with a little help from the Republicans, he won a handy victory in 1996, vindicating the DLC in the process. In all likelihood the New Democratic philosophy (embodied in Al Gore) would have achieved further electoral vindication in 2000 but for unfortunate lapses in the Oval Office and mis-steps thereafter -- the 2000 election was close; Clinton-exhaustion seems to have been a factor.

This book narrates events in a Democratic evolution that is still taking place, and the success of which is not guaranteed. If you care about public policy and the future of the Democratic Party, or just like to look inside the political process, this book is worth a read.