THE WEEK

□ Boycott tulips.

□ Moderate Democrats, many of them from the South and West, have now formed a Leadership Council with the avowed intention of moving the party back into the American mainstream. Most recently, the council, led by Representative Gephardt of Missouri (a possible presidential candidate), conducted a swing through northern Florida, joined by many regional political leaders. The instincts of the council are sound, and its themes are similar to those articulated by national chairman Paul Kirk. The party’s own in-depth polling data indicate massive national defections among the voters on the basis of “social issues” broadly construed. The Democrats have become anathema to white workers who feel penalized by reverse discrimination. The Democrats are perceived as the party of minority interest groups and of exotic themes such as lesbian rights. The term “San Francisco Democrats” has become an epithet, if not a sort of expectoration. But whether the entrenched interest groups and their New Class sponsors within the Democratic Party can be moved aside remains to be seen. It’s schism time, we’d say, too bad!

Featured Tags

□ Boycott tulips.

□ Moderate Democrats, many of them from the South and West, have now formed a Leadership Council with the avowed intention of moving the party back into the American mainstream. Most recently, the council, led by Representative Gephardt of Missouri (a possible presidential candidate), conducted a swing through northern Florida, joined by many regional political leaders. The instincts of the council are sound, and its themes are similar to those articulated by national chairman Paul Kirk. The party’s own in-depth polling data indicate massive national defections among the voters on the basis of “social issues” broadly construed. The Democrats have become anathema to white workers who feel penalized by reverse discrimination. The Democrats are perceived as the party of minority interest groups and of exotic themes such as lesbian rights. The term “San Francisco Democrats” has become an epithet, if not a sort of expectoration. But whether the entrenched interest groups and their New Class sponsors within the Democratic Party can be moved aside remains to be seen. It’s schism time, we’d say, too bad!