Monday, November 9, 1998
Voters defy history, elect Democrats
POLITICS: Victory at polls proves Americans care about issues,
not scandals
By Melanie Ho
Last week on Nov. 3, voters defied 176 years of American
history. They turned against a fact that has been as familiar to
political science students as checks and balances and the Bill of
Rights.
In the sixth year of a President’s term, the President’s party
has historically lost seats in Congress. The last time the
President’s party won House seats in a sixth-year election was
1822. At the time, James Monroe was President. Spain had ceded
Florida to the United States a year before.
Abraham Lincoln had not yet delivered the Gettysburg Address,
man had not walked on the Moon and the World Wars would be in the
distant future. It would be many years before the institution of
slavery would cease to exist and before women would be able to
vote.
The historic nature of the Nov. 3, 1998 victories Â
overturning 176 years of electoral precedence  demonstrates a
dedication of the people of California to move forward. Not only
did Democrats defy history by picking up five seats in the House
and holding on to the same number in the Senate, but we swept most
of the positions in California’s state government.
By electing to our government people from the party that cares
about the health, housing, schools, jobs, civil rights and civil
liberties of all people, Californians showed our dedication to our
future.
This all occurred in the same election that the pundits,
conservative spin-doctors and talk-radio-show hosts said would be
disastrous for the Democratic party. We were told that the Nov. 3
election would be a referendum on impeachment, that Democrats in
public life would be affected by the private business of our
president, that we would lose seats in the House, the Senate and in
state governments.
Historians were not the only ones proven wrong in this
election.
This election was not about impeachment nor partisanship nor
maintaining or defeating the status quo. It was simply about issues
 real issues that real people care about. The people of
California and of the United States wanted, overwhelmingly, to talk
about schools, choice, the environment, crime, health care and the
economy.
Californians, joined by those nationwide, want to see our public
officials running a government, not running inquiries.
In the last term of Congress, the majority party focused on
these inquiries and not on legislation to save Social Security or
reform education. They failed to pass a Patients’ Bill of Rights
which would guarantee patients greater access to needed specialists
and emergency rooms, expand choice, protect the doctor-patient
relationship and hold HMOs accountable for decisions that end up
harming patients. In short, they failed to govern on the issues
that mainstream America cares about.
If this election were to be labeled a referendum on anything, it
would be a referendum for progress, specifically progress in
education.
California elected Democrats like Gray Davis as Governor, Cruz
Bustamante as Lt. Governor, Kathleen Connell as Controller, Phil
Angelides as Treasurer, Bill Lockyer as Attorney General, Delaine
Eastin as Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Barbara Boxer
as U.S. Senator.
The results of the Nov. 3 election will not only have an
overwhelmingly positive impact at both the state and national
levels, but they will also effect us directly as students. More
than anything, the victories on election day were a victory for
education.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the difference
in pay between a high-school educated worker and one with a college
education is about 80 percent. Meanwhile, since 1979, college
tuition has also gone up in real terms by about 80 percent.
Californians understand the importance of making sure that every
who wants it can have the opportunity to receive a college
education.
As a result, we elected a governor who has reduced college fees
(5 percent at the University of California (UC) and California
State Universities and colleges (CSU), and $1 per unit at community
colleges), stood up to protect equal opportunity for California
students in education, and has been a leading advocate of the
expansion of the UC and CSU systems. He has supported student aid,
Pell grants and work study.
Californians also passed Prop. 1A last week, which will fund a
9.2 billion dollar bond issue. These funds will be used to
alleviate overcrowding in our schools by allowing more facilities
to built. It will repair older schools, and allow for wiring and
cabling for education technology (the Internet, etc.). Funds will
also be used to upgrade and build new classrooms for California’s
post-secondary institutions.
As college students and young adults in California, the current
state of education is extremely important to us. But our votes last
week will also ensure that we have the future we desire years after
we have officially left the educational system.
During her first term in the Senate, Boxer fought for a
healthier future (she actively supported managed-care reform), a
more environmentally-sound future (she authored a bill to protect
children from environmental pollutants), a more educated future
(she introduced legislation that would create school enrichment
programs) and a safer future (she fought against "junk guns").
She will continue to make sure that California moves forward,
not only in terms of education, but in all facets of life.
We do not live in a perfect world. Vast inequalities exist in
our educational and economic systems. Racial tension often divides
our state. Our political system is plagued by the lack of campaign
finance rules.
At the polls last Tuesday, however, Californians demonstrated
our desire to improve our surroundings and lifestyles by electing
people who will try to solve these problems through dialogue and
understanding, and who will help government to assure that people
have the opportunities they need to have better lives.
The opponents of progress often blame government for all of the
problems in this country, spouting that government can’t get
anything done and that it doesn’t help people. Perhaps they’ve
forgotten that the Brady Law (which requires a five-day waiting
period and background check before purchasing a handgun) kept
41,000 fugitives, stalkers, drug users and convicted felons from
buying a gun within the first nine months of its enactment. Or
maybe they didn’t know that Federal Home Loans have helped 23
million Americans buy homes.
Maybe they don’t know that the government’s Center for Disease
Control and Prevention helped rid the world from smallpox and the
United States from polio.
This election, UCLA students demonstrated our understanding of
the importance of government and the political process through our
involvement in the campaigns. We showed that we, as students, care
about the State of California.
At the Bruin Democrats-sponsored rally the day before the
election, over 1,500 attendants, most of them UCLA students,
demonstrated their enthusiasm for getting-out-the-vote, for
improving education and for using public service to help better
lives.
We need to make sure that amazing effort was not limited to the
excitement of campaigns and elections. We will continue, in such
similarly large numbers, to play an active role in our government
and in our community.
Through legislation such as Proposition 1A and through the
election of officials such as Davis and Boxer, the state of
California has shown that it cares, not just about progress of the
state in general, but about students in particular.
As students, we need to stay active and pay attention to the
news around us, we need to show that we too care about the State of
California.
Comments, feedback, problems?
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