It was a typically Clintonian solution to conflict: a quick half-cave accompanied by a blue-ribbon commission. Although he is running as a reformer, Clinton’s 11 years in office reveal a politician who takes bold stands but then does so much trimming around the edges that he often loses the clarity of his message. As the Democratic candidate with the longest record in office, Clinton has the most to brag about-and the most to defend. Perhaps more than any other governor, he has pioneered new approaches to old problems. But too often, his imaginative proposals founder on his reluctance to make enemies. Clinton has the politicians’ disease: he wants everyone to like him. His record in several key areas reveals results that fall short of his rhetoric:
Only after the state was sued by child advocates did Clinton get serious about the poorly funded and managed system, which has resulted in children dying and being maimed in protective custody. He convened a commission but is resisting pressure for a special legislative session that would spotlight this Dickensian blight on his record. Clinton’s foot dragging is particularly puzzling since his wife, Hillary, chairs the board of the Children’s Defense Fund, a Washington-based lobby.
This is the centerpiece of Clinton’s claim as a reformer, even if the first wave of change-equalizing funds between rich and poor districts-was mandated by the state Supreme Court. Clinton pushed through the nation’s first teacher-competency-testing law, infuriating the teachers’ unions. In 1983 he campaigned for a one-cent sales tax to finance his education package, including a raise for teachers. He did not make another major push on teacher pay until last year, when he wheedled another half-cent, campaign-eve tax out of the legislature. The increase moves Arkansas from 50th to 49th among the states in teacher salaries. Though student test scores remain low, Clinton deserves credit for trying new ideas. Linking driver’s licenses to staying in school has helped make the state’s dropout rate the lowest in the South.
To drag Arkansas into the 20th century, Clinton has raised taxes repeatedly. It has been a battle each time, and he has generally taken the path of least resistance: increase taxes on individuals and lower them on business and industry. Clinton brags that the ‘91 legislative session cut taxes for lower-income and middle-class taxpayers. But by his own statistics, the average savings are only $53 a year for the poorest taxpayers, a sum partially offset by the increased sales tax. Also nestled in the ‘91 Educational Excellence Trust Fund package is a tax on any used car costing more than $2,000, a fee that hurts lower-income people. Clinton’s defense: he’s tried to push less regressive taxes, but a sales tax requires only a legislative majority; other taxes need a three-fourths vote.
It is unlikely the campaign will be decided on a “Willie Horton,” but Clinton has at least two. During his first term he commuted dozens of first-degree murder sentences and apologized when one elderly man he set free committed murder. In ‘87, faced with a court mandate to reduce prison overcrowding, Clinton moved up release dates for inmates. One committed murder after being out less than a day. Clinton now rarely grants leniency, and he is the only Democratic candidate who favors capital punishment. Arkansas is preparing to execute a prisoner who had a lobotomy, which to some critics constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
Even the best PR man cannot make Clinton look good here. In any trade-off between jobs and the environment, Clinton goes for jobs. (Arkansas’s job-growth rate is a healthy 3.3 percent.) The state’s Pollution Control and Ecology Commission is a joke, stacked with representatives of some of the biggest polluters in the chemical, poultry and paper industries. The 1991-92 Green Index, compiled by the Institute for Southern Studies, ranks Arkansas last in the nation in environmental protection efforts.
As part of his “New Covenant” for social change, Clinton promises to move people off welfare into jobs after two years. It sounds good, but Clinton’s “Project Success” in Arkansas does not yet live up to its name. Clinton claims more than 5,000 welfare cases have been closed, but critics say many single mothers are recycled onto welfare when faced with a minimum-wage job and no health benefits. “There is no miracle,” says Brownie Ledbetter, executive director of Arkansas Career Resources.
In the words of his New Hampshire slogan, Clinton has-portrayed himself as “The Man with the Plan.” But he must now withstand the scrutiny that comes with being the designated front runner. The hardest part could be convincing voters he can turn around America when he hasn’t been able to do it in Arkansas.
