General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: All three Democratic presidential losses in the Eighties were caused by centrism. [View all]Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)and with the party regulars treating our presidential candidate as if he'd had no right to win the nomination was not a fair test of support for the ideas that campaign stood for.
Dukakis was a centrist technocrat and a homophobe. He was to the right of Reagan on defense(supporting a 6% annual increase in the war budget at a time when the conflict with the USSR was over.
Clinton was personally charismatic and the beneficiary of an unexpected collapse in #41's support. He'd have won on any platform. His centrism had little to do with his narrow victory. His support of universal healthcare had a LOT to do with it, but he
never really tried to get a healthcare bill (as opposed to NAFTA and Glass-Stegall repeal, where he went to the mat to give corporate power huge victories over the interests of the Democratic base and the millions of other working-class Americans).