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The panel listens to a question. PHOTOGRAPHS BY CLYDE OWAN '79
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Washington, D.C., Alumni and Students Discuss the Bush Presidency
By Alex Parker
FEBRUARY 12, 2001--Mike Pfister '57 may not seem like a typical Oberlin graduate.
"I'm probably the only Oberlin alumnus who voted for Bush," quipped the retired Army major general and intelligence expert at a recent gathering of Washington, D.C., alumni and students.
"But don't think that because the military supports Republican candidates that the military doesn't have liberal values," Pfister added. "It's value oriented. We value each other. The values that liberals have are held very deeply by the military community."
Pfister's decidedly unique (for Oberlin) perspective rounded out a five-person panel at The State of Our Union, a January 9 forum about the Bush administration. Sponsored by the Oberlin Alumni Club of Washington, D.C., and the College's Career Services Advisory Committee, the forum convened Oberlin alumni with various government-related backgrounds.
Joining Pfister on the panel were
- Nan Aron '70, president and founder of Alliance for Justice;
- Linda Gustitus '69, chief counsel and staff director for Democrats for the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations;
- Holly Fechner '85, chief labor counsel of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; and
- Michael Doyle '78, Washington correspondent for McClatchy newspapers.
Greg Pinelo '91, senior vice-president of the political consulting firm Greer, Margolis, Mitchell, Burns and Associates, moderated. About 80 alumni, Winter Term students, and others filled the large committee room of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
The wide-ranging discussion revealed several perspectives on Bush's prospects. Pfister was optimistic about the Bush team's military and foreign-policy strengths. But Aron said her organization and many others would fight the nomination of former Missouri Senator John Ashcroft as attorney general. Aron, whose group was instrumental in the fight against conservative Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork in 1987, cited Ashcroft's record on civil rights and women's rights, and his vitriolic opposition to Ronnie White, an African-American nominee to the federal bench.
Aron said her "coalition will come back again and again" to fight any more of Bush's hard-right nominations.
Fechner was not pleased with Bush's controversial first nomination for the Labor Department, Linda Chavez. Fechner cited Chavez's skepticism about the minimum wage and sexual-harassment laws. Though Chavez had withdrawn her candidacy hours earlier, Fechner remained worried about the Labor Department's future.
Doyle said he was leery about the future of relations between the White House and the press.
"I think the Bush team has learned lessons from the Clinton team," he said, and mentioned Clinton's aggressive "War Room" tactics toward the press. "Spin seems to define policy more than [be] derived from it as a secondary byproduct."
But not all were pessimistic about the future.
"Most Democrats in this country are mourning the inauguration of George W. Bush," Gustitus said. "The Senate Democrats are not mourning. The Senate Democrats are in the driver's seat."
Gustitus said that while in the minority, the Democrats learned how to unite. Now, with the Senate evenly divided, Democrats will have more influence in making policy. She stated her optimism that Democrats could push through campaign-finance reform and a prescription-drug plan.
"The most powerful person right now, next to the President, is [Senate Democratic Leader] Tom Daschle," she said. "And it couldn't be in the hands of a more decent, wonderful, talented person."
Audience questions covered ground as diverse as the speakers' positions, and included the topics of environmental protection, national missile defense, and the Democratic Leadership Council.
One alumna, who works for the liberal Institute for Policy Studies, briefly debated Pfister about the need for missile defense. Pfister expressed some concerns over the expensive project, which so far has cost $60 billion, but said the defense may be necessary.
As for the environment, there was little optimism.
"These four years are going to build the environmental movement," Gustitus said, somewhat sarcastically. "The actions by the administration are not going to be good ones in terms of environmental concerns."
"Groups that build membership and coffers during times of controversy," rejoined Doyle, "do so not by seeking solutions but by demonizing the other side," he said. "I think there should be more conflict in Washington; I just think there should be more honest conflict. What we have now are phony debates over flag-burning, prayer in school, issues that are meant to highlight the differences between the parties, to cast them in a negative light."
But whatever were the panelists' reservations about the upcoming years, their tone was mostly optimistic.
"I have been here a long time," Gustitus said, "and this is the first time in a while that I have been excited about the process."
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| The audience filled the large committee room of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. |
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