This Tuesday, Democratic voters in New York can make or break Bill Clinton's candidacy. A win here lets him concentrate on building a coalition strong enough to topple President Bush. A loss lengthens the odds that Clinton -- or any Democrat -- will beat George Bush. Thus, more than one man's fate rests in our hands.
Americans desperately want change: a strong economy, first-rate schools, universal access to health care, safe communities, a cleaner environment and much more. Americans are tired of working twice as hard to get less. If George Bush stays, so will the status quo. President Bush may mean well. But when it comes to the challenges facing us -- domestic and foreign -- he lacks the grit to forge new policies and the stamina to pursue them. To him, change is a speechwriter's promise.
Those of us who want real change face hard choices. We can vent our anger and frustration by voting for a candidate who can't be nominated. Or we can just stay home. Or we can, even though we have some doubts, support a catalyst for real and sustainable change: Bill Clinton.
Perhaps the easiest vote is the protest vote. It absolves us of doubts and lets us accept the charges and innuendoes at face value. But I don't believe in using the ballot to send a message of protest when I can vote for a candidate who can change the direction of this country.
People who share the sentiment have to admit how difficult change can be. It takes time. You can't turn a supertanker -- or a superpower -- on a dime. We've seen that in our efforts to change public education. Change takes energy. It demands perseverance and persistence. It requires the ability to work with people and harness them to a task.
That's why I cannot support Jerry Brown. Brown gets a few things right about what ails America, but his solutions are simplistic and wrong. Take his flat tax idea. While favoring the rich, it wipes out the deduction for state and local taxes -- the mainstay of public education funding. People would have to pay higher taxes just to maintain schools at their current levels. Did Brown do the arithmetic on this proposal? Brown's style reminds me of coffee-house conversations in the '60s -- a bunch of kids griping about the system and suddenly one says, "Wow, I've got it. Let's boycott classes." Bill Clinton belongs to Jerry Brown's generation, but he's learned that it takes a lot more than a catchy idea and a slogan to change things.
Staying home Tuesday makes no sense. If our democracy is in dire straits, our elected officials aren't the only ones to blame. We are all responsible for failing to fight for our beliefs. Democrats who don't vote on Tuesday forfeit their right to bitch when George Bush wins next November. And by not voting, they lose something more vital: a chance to change the direction of this country.
If the polls are right, nearly four-fifths of Americans think this country is on the wrong track. If George Bush won't -- and Jerry Brown can't -- switch tracks, then who can? I believe Bill Clinton can. Unlike most New Yorkers, I've seen Bill Clinton at work. He co-chaired the National Governors' Association task force on education reform. In that role, he forced President Bush to abandon his photo-op approach to the Education Summit and negotiate real goals for American education. One goal -- that every child should start school ready to learn -- would not have been adopted without Bill Clinton's persistence.
Clinton started working on the education goals right away. George Bush turned away from them just as quickly and began his campaign for so-called private-school choice, which would use the taxpayers' money to send children to religious and other private schools.
And unlike George Bush, who has always opposed unions, Bill Clinton understands the role of unions in fostering democracy. He signed on early to legislation barring permanent striker replacements, and he supports collective bargaining.
Those are only a few examples of Clinton's leadership, but they're telling ones.
Bill Clinton has solid ideas about how to change this country -- ideas he's developed over the years. They have a good chance of working, especially because he has the toughness and determination that we need in a president. Clinton also knows that governing a country of 250 million people isn't a one-man show. In pulling together the first biracial coalition in decades, he has shown that he is strong enough to harness the talents and energies of all Americans. That speaks volumes about how he will govern.
One final thought. Some people want their vote to produce a brokered convention and a dream ticket. But who is waiting in the wings who's been put through the wringer like Bill Clinton? Who has pulled people together for a common purpose? Who's had the courage to get up every morning and face another day of tabloid hell on the streets of this city? If there were someone else, if that person had the courage or capacity, he would have filed for the primary last January and would be on the ballot now.
Yes, it is a hard choice. But our choice has to be Bill Clinton. Let's make his candidacy this Tuesday so that we can move on to the real fight: defeating George Bush next November.
Paid for and authorized by the Bill Clinton for President Committee.