importantly, they knew this in the White House (recall that Greenberg’s focus groups had
revealed little public commitment to deficit reduction).
Convincing the Public
Gore advised the President that courage would be the key; if the country believed
that Clinton was acting courageously, he would win the battle (Woodward 1994, 96).
The strategy would be for the political Bill Clinton to explain to Americans the difficult
choice made by the policy-minded Bill Clinton. He would strike first, with a brief
nationally-televised address from the Oval Office on February 15. Bob Woodward
claimed that Clinton’s main goal that night was to “anticipate criticisms,” since he knew
his plan “contain[ed] some controversial elements,” including the retreat from the middle
class tax cut (134). Along the same lines, Elizabeth Drew said the speech was “intended
to get out of the way the news…that … there [would] be no tax cut for the middle class”
(76). Clinton did make this announcement, but was almost apologetic about it, and was
much less clear than he would be in subsequent addresses. After stating that the wealthy
would be asked to “pay their fair share,”
Clinton spoke to working and middle class
Americans, alerting them to the fact that his plan would entail costs to them:
I had hoped to invest in your future by creating jobs, expanding education,
reforming health care, and reducing the deficit without asking more of
you. And I’ve worked harder than I’ve ever worked in my life to meet
that goal. But I can’t because the deficit has increased so much beyond
even the worst Government estimates from last year. We just have to face
the fact that to make the changes our country needs, more Americans must
contribute today so that all Americans can do better tomorrow.
He also demonstrated other elements of leading, such as acknowledging the
arguments of opponents:
8
All Clinton speeches can be found in The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. The page
numbers listed in the test correspond to the page numbers in this collection.
19
Convention