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Volume CXXXI, Number 20 |
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Political pundit speaks
PATRICK ROCKEFELLER
STAFF WRITER
Declaring the beginning of a new political era, William
Kristol, conservative pundit, former Chief of Staff for Vice President
Dan Quayle, and editor of the Weekly Standard, gave a lecture as part
of the John C. Donovan Memorial Lecture Series Tuesday evening. Kristol's
talk was entitled "The New Era of Politics."
The focus of Mr. Kristol's talk was the changes ushered
into the American political system as a result of the terrorist attacks.
"September 11 marks the end of one political era and the beginning
of another," he said.
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| Conservative pundit and editor of The Weekly Standard William Kristol recently spoke on "The New Era of Politics," declaring the beginning of a new political era. (Courtesy The Weekly Standard) |
He characterized the WWII and Cold War period, stretching
until the fall of the Berlin Wall in November of '89 and the collapse
of the Soviet Union in '91, as one era in which foreign policy was a deciding
factor in national politics.
However, as the 1990s progressed, and America rose essentially
unopposed in its role in the world, politics turned more to domestic issues
such as health care and welfare reform. President Clinton, Kristol argued,
with an untried foreign policy, could probably not have been elected in
the era of the Cold War.
The Clinton years marked an interlude between one era and
the next, and much of Clinton's early success was a result of his understanding
that there was a fundamental change with the end of the Cold War. George
H. W. Bush did not understand this, and was soundly defeated in '92. The
unique strength of Perot as a modern third party candidate, garnering
19 percent of the vote, further reflected the changing times.
Kristol characterized the 1990s, from the election of Clinton
until September 11, as an era in which domestic issues such as welfare
reform and decreased crime rates could be counted as successes, but in
which the electorate was widely divided. This culminated with the 2000
elections.
In the post September 11 era, Americans should expect a
decade of conflict, Kristol said. This will stand in contrast to the rather
peaceful 1990s. However, the role of the parties is still up in the air.
Kristol said there could be splits in the GOP over issues
of immigration and profiling, while the Democrats may be forced to face
a split between the more hawkish members of the party and those that favor
a more limited military. These will be issues that will come to the forefront
in the 2002 elections, but should really develop by 2004.
Other issues not related to the war included cloning and
Supreme Court appointments. He mentioned the blocked Pickering nomination
as an example of the future battles to come as an aging Court begins to
retire.
In a question and answer period, Kristol addressed issues
such as the Arab Israeli conflict, the role of Yassir Arafat in the suicide
bombings in Israel, and what character the Bush Administration would take.
Kristol received his PhD from Harvard College and was a professor at the Kennedy School of Government from 1983 to 1985.