Reflections on the 1988 Presidential Campaign

Any reflection on the 1988 presidential campaign's meaning for progressives must begin by acknowledging the general demoralization the Left, which is principally due to two factors. First, there is the continuing contraction the boundaries discourse in American political culture, resulting in the consolidation the Right and the ongoing marginalization the Left. In a presidential race that saw Bush forces employ a skillful treachery in. undermining forms political tolerance and notions ideological inclusiveness, even the word became the dirty L word, anathema to the progress American civil and social life. In such a climate, then, it is small wonder that progressives every ilk have been traumatized by the rhetorical terrorism the Right in its subversive rearticulation political meanings, meanings which are now primarily understood from the narrow foci conservative ideology and mainstream politics. A further source demoralization is the desperate infighting now transpiring over the meaning the watershed moment which gave greatest historical momentum and political point to the contemporary Left: the sixties. Segments the Left are presently locked in interpretive warfare over the significance the sixties, its place in defining and determining present courses action and strategy and even some brutal ideological skirmishes that sometimes amount to a lefter-than-thou contest. The irony this, course, is that such hermeneutical combat is occurring precisely when the liberal logic which informed the Great Society agenda has been rebutted, when the measured progress that resulted from various sixties movements for liberation has been retarded, and when the sympathetic political sentiment and concern generated during that era has been rejected. Given this background, then, the 1988 presidential election seems only to portend further demoralization and promise even greater polarization the Left. Upon further reflection, however, this view may be challenged by encouraging signs. First, the Bush victory does not represent an authoritative mandate of the people. Indeed the degree to which the electoral process accurately reflects the political mood or positions most Americans is highly questionable. Only forty-nine percent the eligible electorate chose to vote, making it the lowest turnout in sixty-four years. Also, a disproportionate number persons who

Media studies · Political science · Politics · Presidential campaign · Presidential system · Sociology · American Political and Social Dynamics · Law · Public Administration