BY ARGIRIS MALAPANIS

Surrounded by thousands of police officers in blue uniforms, and standing in front of a blue banner that read "Law Enforcement Stands Behind President Clinton," Democratic nominee William Clinton accepted the endorsement for his re-election bid by the Fraternal Order of Police. The 270,000-member cop association, the largest in the country, had never before supported a Democrat for president.

The ceremony, which took place in Cincinnati's Music Hall September 16, undercut publicity for a simultaneous major address by Republican presidential candidate Robert Dole in Pennsylvania. Speaking at Villanova University in Philadelphia, Dole shifted his focus from the "economic growth" theme that has dominated his campaign since the Republican convention to a push for tougher "anticrime" measures.

About a week earlier, the Senate had approved by an overwhelming bipartisan majority the Defense of Marriage Act, banning recognition of same-sex marriages. Clinton vowed months earlier to sign this bill into law.

The "law and order" speeches by Clinton and Dole and the passage of the antigay legislation marked a shift - at least for now - of the campaigns of the two big-business parties from economic policy to what right-wing politician Patrick Buchanan has dubbed the "culture war." Waged with conflicts and contradictions within the bourgeois parties over its extent and pace, the so-called culture war is a necessary part of the ideological preparation by the employers for further assaults on Social Security and other conquests by the working class.

As with capitalist austerity, Clinton's "New Democrats" have taken the lead on these issues, shifting the boundaries of bourgeois social policy further to the right.

The best friend of cops
"Rank-and-file police officers have never had a better friend in the White House than Bill Clinton," Gil Gallegos, Fraternal Order of Police president, said in a statement.

In the month prior to this endorsement, Clinton had received the backing of two smaller police groups - the International Union of Police Associations and the National Association of Police Organizations. Together with the Fraternal Order, these groups represent 70 percent of all police officers in the country.

In his speech to the Fraternal Order gathering, Clinton bragged about his record of running a "law and order" administration, which includes expanding the police force nationwide by 100,000. "We passed the three-strikes-and-you-are- out law," he said. "We are indicting people, convicting people under it." Clinton was referring to legislation that mandates life imprisonment without parole for people convicted of three federal felonies. "We expanded the death penalty," the Democratic president boasted.

The administration's "anticrime" and "anti-terrorism" bills, signed by Clinton in 1994 and the spring of 1996 respectively, did expand the use of the death penalty to include 60 federal crimes, up from two; narrowed the right of appeal of the convicted, especially those on death row; and pushed back freedom from illegal search and seizure more so than other recent administrations even dreamed of.

In April of this year, Clinton signed legislation mandating the government to deport immigrants previously convicted of a felony or misdemeanor without due process. And in May, he signed a nationwide "Megan's Law," which requires states to publicize the names of persons convicted of a sex offense after their release from prison, in effect adding years to their sentences without the right to a trial or a jury.

Probes against democratic rights
On September 9, Clinton asked Congress to adopt a $1.1- billion package of new "anti-terrorist" measures. These include a special computer tracking system to flag passengers authorities claim have "suspicious" travel patterns or convictions on their record. The names, addresses, telephone numbers, travel histories, and billing records of passengers would be run through a giant database that might lead to a thorough search of the luggage of those deemed suspicious. Hiring hundreds of new agents for the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and increasing the staff for federal prosecutors and courts are among Clinton's latest proposals.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took issue with the notion of passenger "profiling" by federal agents. "At a ticket counter, airplane passengers check their baggage, not their rights," ACLU legislative counsel Gregory Nojeim stated at a hearing before the Aviation Safety and Security Commission, established by Clinton days after the TWA Flight 800 explosion.

The new proposals by Clinton, however, have little chance of being approved by Congress right now. The campaign by the U.S. rulers and big-business press to stir up a "terrorism" scare has continued to fall flat. Two months after the July 17 TWA crash, with 70 percent of the plane recovered off the ocean floor, federal authorities have had to admit the likelihood that a mechanical failure, not a bomb, caused the explosion.

When Clinton proposed a similar package of "antiterrorist" measures in August, Republican House majority leader Newton Gingrich was able to posture as a defender of civil liberties by organizing to vote down the White House proposal to increase government wiretapping powers.

Many Republicans had a similar response to the September 9 proposals by Clinton. "This whole rapid-response concept has gotten out of hand," said Kenneth Quinn, who was FAA general counsel under former President George Bush. "These are all very expensive, intrusive solutions in search of a problem. We still have not determined a probable cause on TWA 800."

Clinton's proposals maintain the Democratic administration's position at the forefront of probes by the employing class against democratic rights.

Defense of Marriage Act
This was also the case with the passage of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.

This bill targets certain individuals - that is gays and lesbians - as less than fully equal before the law by allowing state governments to refuse to recognize marriages performed legally in another state other than those between a man and a woman. The act also for the first time defines marriage in federal law as the "legal union between one man and one woman" and labels "spouse" as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or wife."

Conservative Republicans and other reactionary forces were stirred into action last year and introduced this legislation on the mere expectation that the state of Hawaii may begin permitting marriages between gays and lesbians.

Early this year Clinton jumped into the forefront of the controversy, promising to sign the bill. And many Democrats in Congress campaigned vigorously for its passage. "Let us defend the oldest institution, the institution of marriage between male and female as set forth in the Holy Bible," declared Senator Robert Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia. "The permanent relationship between men and women is a keystone to the stability, strength, and health of human society."

The House of Representatives approved the bill in July by a vote of 342 to 67. The Senate voted 85-14 in favor of an identical version two months later. The measure now awaits the president's promised signature.

This bill permits abrogation of the U.S. constitution. Article IV of that document requires that "full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state."

In a similar way, the so-called miscegenation laws, barring marriage between a white person and a Black person, were enforced in the states of the Old Confederacy as if, de facto, there were no constitutional obligation to recognize matrimony between whites and Blacks performed in other states. Under the impact of the massive civil rights battles, those laws were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967.

That high court decision involved a couple, Richard and Mildred Loving, who had been married in Washington, D.C., and then arrested and prosecuted for miscegenation when they returned to live in their home state of Virginia. When the couple was charged in 1958, miscegenation laws were in effect in 17 states.

The Lovings were convicted, among other charges, of violating the following Virginia statute: "If any white person and colored person shall go out of this State, for the purpose of being married, and with the intention of returning, and be married out of it, and afterwards return to and reside in it, cohabiting as man and wife, they shall be punished as provided in" the state anti-miscegenation law. The 1967 decision in the Loving v. Virginia case struck down the Virginia law on the basis that it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment to the constitution.

Before the Senate approved the Defense of Marriage Act, 15 states had enacted legislation banning or denying recognition to same-sex marriages, or doing both. In addition, the governors of Alabama and Mississippi had signed executive orders to the same effect.

By barring federal recognition to marriages between gays and lesbians, the Defense of Marriage Act singles out a layer of the population and denies them federal entitlements - such as the right of a surviving spouse to continue receiving a portion of Social Security, Medicare, veterans', or other benefits of a deceased partner. It is thus part of the attack on the social wage of working people, which Clinton is leading with the signing of the Welfare Reform Bill.

In the Senate, 32 Democrats joined all 53 Republicans in supporting the antigay bill. Fourteen Democrats voted no, and one was absent. Those voting against the bill included several of the established liberal Democrats like Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Tom Kerrey of Nebraska, as well as Daniel Moynihan of New York, who was also among those who criticized the welfare law.

The bulk of Democratic Senators voting yes ranged from "New Democrats," associated with the Democratic Leadership Council that Clinton presided before his election to the White House, such as Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut; to conservative Democrats like Robert Byrd of West Virginia; and Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, who is on the left-wing of the Democrats.

The same day the Defense of Marriage Act was approved, the Senate also narrowly defeated a bill that would ban discrimination against homosexuals in hiring in most circumstances. The vote in this case was 50 to 49, with 41 Democrats and 8 Republicans favoring it and 5 Democrats and 45 Republicans opposing it.

Conservatives hailed these votes as victories. "This is a huge string of victories for the pro-family movement," declared Ralph Reed, executive director of the Christian Coalition.

The scourge of liberalism
Those liberals whose credentials among opponents of antigay measures remained high took the lead to channel disaffected voters back into the fold of the Democratic Party. Senator Kennedy, who opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and sponsored the anti-discrimination bill, attempted to paint a rosy picture for gay rights advocates by pointing to the narrow defeat of the measure that would bar discrimination in hiring of homosexuals. "We're on the move - we've got momentum," said Kennedy.

The Senator from Massachusetts was also one of the two sponsors of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, touted by liberal Democrats as an antidote to the Welfare Reform Bill, which eliminated social programs the working class won during the labor battles of the 1930s. But many elements of this bill converge with the assault on social security most overtly registered in the welfare law. By mandating the establishment of so-called private medical savings accounts, for example, the "health insurance" reform opens a wedge to begin gutting Medicare as a government-funded entitlement for all.

The bipartisan measure, sponsored by Kennedy and Republican Senator Nancy Kassebaum, became law with Clinton's signature August 21.

Taking stock of Clinton's record, Ralph Reed told the press at the opening of the Christian Coalition's conference September 14: "He signed welfare reform... he signed legislation outlawing pornography on the Internet, he has talked about school uniforms... I think you can make a strong case that Bill Clinton is running the most culturally conservative campaign since Ronald Reagan."

Dole and his running mate, Jack Kemp, have continued to push their economic growth theme as an alternative to Clinton's "status quo" at a time of persistent job insecurity, declining real wages, and growing social inequality. "Bob Dole and I have set out to expand our economy," Kemp said in a speech to the Christian Coalition conference September 14. Kemp is also persisting on the Republican campaign effort to appeal to Blacks.

Kemp-Dole ticket trails in polls
In his September 14 speech, Kemp praised the Coalition for "your efforts to help rebuild black churches burned by hate." He was referring to the racist arsons of more than 70 Black churches in the South since last year. "If this movement and my political party truly seek and earn the respect and support of African-Americans, our house divided will finally be healed."

At the same time, Kemp explained his support for the Defense of Marriage Act, saying, "The future of our nation will be determined by the state of this union... the union of a man and a woman." Kemp also stated his support for a ban on so-called partial birth abortions, a measure Clinton vetoed earlier this year. Dole, who introduced Kemp to the conference, vowed in his brief remarks to sign the anti-abortion measure if he wins the presidency.

Prior to this gathering, Dole had been criticized by Reed and other conservative and rightist figures for not focusing his campaign on "family and faith" values. Initially, Dole had indicated he would not attend the Christian Coalition conference, but decided to appear at the last minute.

At the Villanova University appearance two days later, Dole presented a series of tougher "anticrime" measures. But his effort was overshadowed by Clinton's show in Cincinnati. Dole has also pushed for including an amendment allowing states to deny free public education to the children of undocumented immigrants in an immigration bill currently before Congress. Such a provision would most likely delay any action on the legislation until after the election. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill already include provisions doubling the number of Border Patrol agents, denying undocumented workers almost all public benefits, and restricting legal immigrants' access to benefits.

Seven weeks before the November 5 elections, the Republican ticket continues to trail substantially behind the Democratic slate in the polls. The Clinton administration is also trying to take advantage of recently released economic figures reflecting the high point of the upturn in the current capitalist business cycle.

Unemployment in August fell to 5.1 percent from 5.4 percent the previous month. The Gross Domestic Product grew at 4.8 percent in the second quarter of 1996, raising expectations of annual growth nearing 3 percent, up from earlier forecasts of 2.4 percent for this year.

Weakening of Perot's movement
On September 17, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that billionaire Ross Perot had no realistic chance of winning the presidential election and would not be invited to join Clinton and Dole in this year's debates. Perot, who received 19 percent of the vote in the 1992 race, has been hovering around 5 percent in the polls. His main appeal is an electoral alternative to the Democrats and Republicans, running on a capitalist platform. The development of his Reform Party acts as a safety valve for the two-party system, keeping dissent within the framework of bourgeois politics.

In a half-hour paid television ad aired September 10, Perot announced Pat Choate as his running mate. Choate is an economist who co-authored a book with Perot during the 1992 election campaign condemning the North American Free Trade Agreement. He is the author of another protectionist book as well, an anti- Japanese tract called Agents of Influence.

Four days after his nomination, Choate was the guest at a CNBC TV talk show co-hosted by Dee Dee Myers, Clinton's former press secretary, and Bay Buchanan, the sister and campaign manager of former Republican presidential contender Patrick Buchanan.

Buchanan went out of her way to ask Choate friendly questions, especially about his chauvinist views on immigration and protectionism. Toward the end of the show, Buchanan presented Choate with one of the big "Go Pat, Go!" signs and offered him 10,000 copies left over from the race of rightist Patrick Buchanan in the Republican presidential primaries. She held up for the TV camera one of those signs with "Buchanan" scratched out but very readable and with "Choate" written in above it. Choate responded he was honored to accept.

This exchange is an indication that the Perot third-party phenomenon has narrowed politically as his broader appeal and electoral prospects shrink. Compared to 1992, the coalition of forces and individuals the billionaire has put together this time to mount a national campaign is more overtly ideological and right wing.  
 
 
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