Searching for America's Heart: RFK and the Renewal of Hope
In the tradition of men like Dennis Thatcher, Peter Edelman may be best known to the public because of his better-known wife: Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund. Yet Edelman himself made headlines in 1996, when he quit his job as an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services to protest President Clinton's signing of a welfare bill. This election-year law, written mainly by Republicans, marked a "fundamental break with the longstanding commitment of the Democratic Party to protect poor children." To make matters worse, in Edelman's view, Clinton quoted the words of Robert F. Kennedy at the signing ceremony. Edelman had worked for RFK, and he was outraged: "President Clinton's misuse of Robert Kennedy's words highlighted a stark difference between the two young leaders. One pressed for social justice whenever he could. The other, originally projecting a commitment to renewing national idealism, ended up governing mainly according to the lowest common denominator." (Edelman did not actually oppose Clinton's reelection: "I have never believed that worse is better. Clinton was always fortunate in the quality of the enemies he attracted.")Searching for America's Heartis not primarily about the Clinton presidency, but it is about the evolution of American liberalism from RFK's heyday in the 1960s to the prosperity of the 1990s, and Clinton necessarily plays a large role in this story. Edelman intends to ignite what he calls "the new progressivism," which he believes is in keeping with RFK's legacy. He still wants to fight and win the War on Poverty. His views are suited for the left-wing of the Democratic Party: some will consider them a return to the failed past; others will think they offer hope for the future. Whatever the case, Edelman is probably correct when he writes that much is up for grabs right now: "This is a time of particular opportunity. The prosperity of recent years, the ensuing surpluses, the increase in local activism, and the effect of the new welfare law in deflating anger at the poor come together to offer opportunity." The question is, in which direction? Edelman has strong opinions on this matter, and he shares them with force and eloquence in these pages.--John J. Miller