In a leadership lecture hosted by the School of Public Affairs
on Monday night, former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis and
publisher of New Perspectives Quarterly Stanley Sheinbaum presented
the challenges that face Democrats and liberals in the coming years
and the need for an improved grassroots effort nationwide.
As part of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the School
of Public Affairs, a series of guest speakers from different
backgrounds have been scheduled for winter and spring quarters.
In addition, Dukakis and Sheinbaum discussed what comes next for
the Democratic Party.
Initially, moderator and Dean of the School of Public Affairs
Barbara Nelson asked each speaker how they came to be liberals.
Sheinbaum, also a regent of the University of California from
1977 to 1989, said the Vietnam War was what led him to become such
an influential figure for the Democrats.
Dukakis, a professor of political science at Northeastern
University and visiting professor at the School of Public Affairs,
explained that as a kid he had a “sense of injustice”
about the world during the 1940s and ’50s when he grew
up.
“McCarthy got me so mad that I got involved in
politics,” Dukakis said.
Both Sheinbaum and Dukakis agreed that Democrats need to start
preparing for the next congressional and presidential elections now
through the use of a stronger national grassroots program by going
to households individually and presenting the Democratic platforms
in a more casual setting.
Dukakis said that due to a lack of pursuit of many red states,
the Democrats conceded two-thirds of these states to President Bush
in the November election.
“That is just dumb,” he said.
Sheinbaum and Dukakis said many of the swing states in the 2004
presidential election could have carried a Democratic vote had
there been a stronger effort to make contact with individuals and
inform them of how Democrats stand on many of the issues.
“There are red and blue states, but there are a lot of
pink states too where the margin wasn’t that great,”
Dukakis said. “My party, at its best, represents the majority
of Americans. …. If we articulate our philosophy and do the
groundwork, we can get back on track and win an
election.”
The speakers agree that the Democratic Party could win future
elections by making a more local effort to contact average
Americans.
“Federal issues don’t attract the way local issues
do,” Sheinbaum said.
They also discussed how students and young people play a
significant role in Democrats’ future.
In the 2004 election, media statistics showed that the majority
of young people did not vote partially because of a lack of
political identification.
Barbara Sinclair, a political science professor, said that young
people “have more immediate and pressing issues” than
politics. But “if you look at how they voted (in November),
it was Democratic,” she said.
Dukakis and Sheinbaum both said that there needs to be an
improved grassroots effort at college campuses to encourage
students to get involved in politics.
“We’ve got to organize grassroots on campus and
treat it like another community. We could recruit a lot of
Democrats,” Dukakis said.