Word: centrist
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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TIME's Jeffrey Birnbaum and Michael Duffy report that seven centrist politicians have been quietly plotting a run for the White House. In two late October conference calls, the schemers concluded that there is a hunger for a party that is fiscally conservative, socially liberal, pro-environment and in favor of campaign-finance reform. Next Sunday, the group members, which include Democratic Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey, former Republican Senator and Independent Governor of Connecticut Lowell Weicker and former Democratic Senators Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts and Gary Hart of Colorado, will hold their most important call yet. They will...
Presented essentially as an open letter to President Clinton, the new book by columnist Ben Wattenberg describes how Clinton swayed from the centrist social positions that got him elected and suggests ways in which he, or whoever captures the "values" debate, can win the presidency in '96. "Wattenberg is at his most impressive when dealing with the specifics of the disjunction between what Clinton promised and how he has governed," says TIME's Elizabeth Gleick. "These rare sharp moments, however, are surrounded by more stuffing than a Thanksgiving turkey. Wattenberg fills 400 windy and repetitive pages with folksy statements...
Before any negotiating begins, however, Clinton will try to shore up his credibility by talking tough. Early this week he plans to deliver a speech to the centrist Democratic Leadership Council focusing on the "values" that he promises are nonnegotiable in any effort to balance the budget. He will also give an Oval Office address or hold a press conference to explain why the government is shutting down. The message will be that the President is standing tall. Warily, Democrats in Congress will be watching to see how long that posture lasts...
...call to make English America's "official language," a long-standing Dole position that ranks about midway on the G.O.P. right-wing's wish list. No, the candidate told his advisers, that would be "inappropriate" for an audience concerned with military matters. In stead Dole reiterated his essentially centrist themes, as he did all across the South last week. Dole kept saying he wants to "rein in government and return power to the people," but he also kept saying "government does a lot of good things" and that voters should look around them and see those whom government programs have...
...that will be background noise compared with the unremitting fiscal conservatism that the G.O.P. candidates are likely to preach to an antideficit choir of Perot backers in Dallas. The Democrats can offer only a cacophony of views, ranging from the leftist tract of Jackson to the more centrist perspectives of House minority leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Senate minority leader Tom Daschle. Clinton counselor Thomas "Mack" McLarty, relatively conservative, will stand in for the President...