This Change Gets Our Vote

Raise the topic of politics and people aren’t so quick to yawn and change the subject anymore. There’s a tingle about it right now, don’t you agree?

The era of the managerial chief executive, the incrementalist politician, the captive-to-the-polls candidate -- typified by, say, Bill Clinton for most of his presidency, or any of the last three California governors -- seems as out of fashion as paisley neckties. For the moment at least, boldness has returned, not just as a leadership attribute that Americans say they admire but one they actually are willing to risk.

How else can you explain that Al Gore, the keenest of political weather vanes, is now talking about audacity, of all things? Or that the field of Democratic presidential challengers overall seems invigorated, not daunted by the midterm elections?

Or that Republicans are feeling so spirited that they’re considering not just a make-over for Social Security but its twin untouchable, Medicare? Or that Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill wants nothing less than a complete rewrite of our bulky tax system?

Or that important backers of Ralph Nader are now openly begging him not to repeat his third-party folly because things have gotten really serious, see?

Our last two national elections have proved that every vote counts. And the aftermath of these two elections reminds us why: Like it or not, government sometimes matters, and more so right now, both directly in the delivery of policy and indirectly as a mirror of our civic sensibilities. For many, the realization is startling.

Some people attribute this new oomph in politics solely to terrorism and to our new sense of national vulnerability. But I don’t believe that entirely covers the ground. In fits and starts, government has been stirring for a while.

Welfare reform comes to mind, and the federal consensus that schools are failing. And for a brief time, even Clinton reached for boldness.

Increasingly, it seems, deferring our challenges is not recognized as a way out of them.

Only in the broadest terms does the war with terrorists explain why some of the most adventurous ideas being discussed today involve fundamental at-home matters like health care, retirement and how we tax ourselves -- choke points in social progress for more than a generation.

The inevitable recognition that we are engaged in a clash of global ideals, even civilizations, may be prying open the door for examination of the nature of this society we defend.

What makes matters so interesting, beyond the bravado, are the head-spinning ironies and philosophic realignments occurring simultaneously in our politics -- pushing both parties onto unfamiliar ground and even sending some of our lock-step special interests off in surprising directions.

Conservatives secured their majority in Washington -- courts, presidency and Congress -- at just the time when their free-enterprise and deregulatory principles had borne a bumper harvest of rotted fruit. Just as fundamentally, the conservative creed about reducing government’s reach into our lives has been turned inside out.

Who would have guessed that conservatives would call for a neighbor-on-neighbor snoop program, not to mention propose the most invasive collection of personal data on the citizenry envisioned since the heyday of the Soviet Union?

Once the champions of states’ rights, conservatives have fallen head over heels in love with federal rule: The Department of Education has been granted life-and-death sway over schools. Local voters who approved initiatives to permit medical use of marijuana and doctor-assisted suicide are accorded the respect of outlaws.

Liberals, on the defense, have gotten themselves nowhere by borrowing the old-fashioned language of conservatives, saying, wait just a minute. After many years of trying awkwardly to span the gap between the haves and the have-nots, their footing has come loose. But, if you believe the polls, the foundation of their ideals hasn’t. It’s worth noting that in defeat, liberals are starting to sound almost as bold as conservatives in victory.

On the map, the nation remains divided, as usual. But that doesn’t hide the growing dynamism in politics. Conservatives have made strong gains on once-bedrock liberal issues like education, ensuring honesty in the free markets and even Social Security.

Democrats, meanwhile, retained public backing on environmental issues and tax fairness. And Democratic ideas have gained currency from unexpected quarters in recent days. The CEOs of the influential Business Roundtable argued that tax breaks for low- and middle-income individuals would help the economy more than breaks for corporations. The chief executive of Blue Shield of California called for universal health insurance. A group of evangelical Christians lobbied Detroit to improve gasoline mileage.

Lately, many Americans have fooled themselves into thinking that their votes didn’t matter, that lackluster politics offered them no real choice. Now, the biggest change of all is that this attitude itself is changing.