A Clinton Finds a Changing Democratic Party

AS IT IS 2016-07-27 A Clinton Finds a Changing Democratic Party

The Democratic Party that is set to nominate Hillary Clinton for president is not the same party that twice nominated her husband, Bill Clinton, for president.

The party’s 2016 platform -- or statement of positions on major issues -- is the most progressive in the party’s history, according to Senator Bernie Sanders.

Hillary Clinton, who defeated Sanders for the Democratic nomination¹, is backing key parts of the platform.

She is expected to accept the Democratic nomination on Thursday, the last day of the four-day convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The 2016 platform is more liberal than the positions Bill Clinton campaigned on and supported during his two terms as president from 1993 to 2001.

Bill Clinton’s positions

Clinton vowed² to “end welfare as we know it,” and signed a 1996 bill that put time limits and work requirements on welfare recipients³.

He signed the “Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a union of one man and one woman. The Supreme⁴ Court in effect ended the law when it ruled last year that same sex couples can marry.

Bill Clinton also negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Hillary Clinton now says did not do what many had hoped” in creating jobs for Americans.

In 1992, when Clinton accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, he spoke⁵ about what government should and should not do.

He promised a “government that is leaner, not meaner; a government that expands opportunity, not bureaucracy; a government that understands that jobs must come from growth” under a free enterprise system.

Changing times

Brian Brox is a political science professor at Tulane University in the southern state of Louisiana. He said some of the policies Bill Clinton championed in the 1990s came from a group called the Democratic Leadership Council, or DLC, which he helped lead.

The DLC called for new “centrist” policies after the party lost three straight presidential elections from 1980-1988 with candidates considered too liberal, Brox said.

John Breaux is a former Democratic senator from Louisiana. He replaced Clinton as DLC chairman after Clinton was elected president.

“It is a different time now with different issues,” Breaux said.

Brox agrees. He said: “America has changed in the 16 years since his presidency⁶ ended, and the current platform reflects how the country has changed after wars and an economic crisis, as well as how the country is demographically different than it was when he was president.”

Breaux said Clinton carried southern states when he ran for president. Those states are now solidly Republican in national races. That means Democrats⁷ do not feel the need to support centrist proposals that appeal to Southern voters, he said.

The new Democrats

The 2016 Democratic Party has gone further than the party led by Bill Clinton in the 1990s. For example, Bill Clinton supported and won passage of a bill requiring most companies to offer family leave so a worker could deal with an emergency.

Now, Democrats and Hillary Clinton propose that the law do more. For example, they want companies to continue paying employees for up to 12 weeks if they have to take care of a sick child or parent.

Bill Clinton appears comfortable with the more liberal agenda proposed by his wife and the Democratic Party, said Tulane University’s Brox.

“He might very well have pushed for a more progressive agenda had the voters wanted it,” Brox said. “But ultimately he wanted to win then, just as he wants his wife to win now.”

As president, Clinton balanced his centrist proposals with some liberal bills. He proposed a bill, which his wife pushed in Congress, to provide health insurance for all Americans.

He also proposed a crime bill with a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and higher taxes on wealthy Americans to lower the deficit⁸.

The crime and tax bills passed. The health care legislation did not.

Clinton has mostly managed to get favorable ratings from a majority of Americans despite continued controversy⁹.

In 1998, a majority of voters held a favorable view of Clinton, even as Republicans tried unsuccessfully to remove him from office for his sexual relationship with a White House intern¹⁰.

Last month, Clinton was criticized for meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch at an airport. The meeting occurred just days before she said the government would not prosecute¹¹ Hillary Clinton for using a private email server as secretary of state.

But Democrats said there are few people better able to tell Americans why they should elect Hillary Clinton, over her Republican opponent, businessman Donald Trump¹².

“No one can do a better job talking about the things that Hillary has done, the fights she's taken on," said Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager.

Words in This Story

welfare -- n. a government program for poor or unemployed¹³ people that helps pay for their food, housing, medical costs, etc.

leaner -- adj. thinner, smaller

bureaucracy -- n. a large group of people who are involved in running a government but who are not elected

free enterprise -- n. a system in which private businesses are able to compete with each other with little control by the government

replace -- v. to do the job or duty of another person

demographically -- adv. qualities such as age, sex, and, income, ethnic¹⁴ background of people

prosecute -- v. to charge a person with a crime and move to prove guilt¹⁵

email server -- n. a system used to transmit messages through computers

controversy -- n. strong disagreement about something among a large group of people

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

3 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

9 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

10 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

11 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

12 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

13 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

14 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

15 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。