Politics faculty discuss election, party system

The outcome of the next presidential race is already decided, scandals are lurking behind nearly every candidate, and third parties are not viable. According to members of the Politics Department, that's as good a reason as any to get out and vote.

The Politics Department held a forum on the upcoming Presidential elections on Monday evening. Students packed into King 106, filling every seat and much of the aisle, to listen to professors Jere Bruner, Don Pease, Paul Dawson and Ron Kahn play pundit. The quartet predicted a sure Clinton victory.

Pease, a former congressman, claimed that he foresaw the winner far in advance. "Unfortunately, I did not proclaim that in any public forum," he said. "The main reason I was confident was the public persona of the two men. I couldn't imagine the American public picking Bob Dole over Bill Clinton."

The rest of the panel echoed Pease's sentiments, attributing Clinton's success to everything but an examination of substantive issues.

"It's the consummate political skill of Clinton himself," Pease said.

"These are phony issues," Dawson said. Referring to a Clinton/Gore campaign poster that bypassed the metaphor of a bridge in favor of a train to the twenty-first century, Dawson said, "Wouldn't you like to hitch a ride on the twenty-first century express? Of course you do. People don't ask where it's going and how much it costs."

Dawson fingered foreign aid, the globalization of the economy, intergenerational equity and the role of the judiciary as crucial issues that were never explored during the Presidential campaign.

"It's a bit like the film Mission Impossible," Dawson said. "No one could figure out the plot but it's still a big hit."

According to Kahn, Dole didn't play his cards wisely. "Everyone's an immigrant in this country," Kahn said. "The idea of splitting off the immigrants will not be successful. And you can't play the Hillary game when Mrs. Dole is running the Red Cross."

The panelists could not ignore the cynicism which has permeated this election season. "This has been a really disturbing campaign," said Bruner. "There's been a tremendous increase in political cynicism."

Kahn suggested Clinton's infamous waffling has left voters unhappy. "This flip-flop. People felt manipulated."

If the politicians aren't trustworthy, the voters may be even less predictable.

"If I were Clinton," Pease said, "I would worry about voters saying `I certainly wouldn't vote for Bob Dole if I thought he was going to win.' My experience is that voters are funny people. Not ha-ha funny."

The majority of the panelists remained optimistic, suggesting there was still a great need for debate. "Anything we can do to raise discourse," Dawson said.

Most of the discourse raised at the forum concerned third parties. Despite students' persistence in returning again and again to the issue during the question and answer session, Pease said, "I don't see a whole lot of change in party structure."

"In the end, I am confident things will turn out right," Pease said.

Kahn closed the forum: "Anyway," he said, "It's a great country. Stay with it."