2nd Democratic Spot Takes Aim at Welfare

The Democratic presidential ticket on Wednesday began airing its second advertisement of the general election campaign. Entitled “Second Chance,” the 30-second spot attempts to summarize Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton’s plan for reforming the nation’s welfare system. The ad is running in 10 states that the Democratic campaign declined to identify.

The Ad: Standing in his office in the governor’s mansion in Little Rock, Clinton speaks directly to the camera and says: “I have a plan to end welfare as we know it--to break the cycle of welfare dependency. We’ll provide education, job training and child care, but then those who are able must go to work, either in the private sector or in public service. I know it can work. In my state, we’ve moved 17,000 people from welfare rolls to payrolls. It’s time to make welfare what it should be--a second chance, not a way of life.”

Analysis: It is true that Clinton, as governor, established national credentials as an innovator in welfare reform. He headed the task force of governors that put together the welfare reform law signed in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, who praised Clinton at the time for his role in the effort. Some of Clinton’s ideas even are part of the reform plan the Bush campaign began advocating this year. Clinton’s claim that 17,000 people have moved “from welfare rolls to payrolls” in Arkansas, however, tells only part of the story. The number, which comes from the Arkansas Department of Human Services, represents individuals who have moved off food stamps and Aid to Families with Dependent Children and into jobs. But it does not count how many people went the other way, from work to welfare. Arkansas’ welfare rolls have grown in the last three years, although Clinton aides argue that the growth has been slower than in most other states.