Why Bradley's got my vote

Mr. Sarkar's Wild Ride
    By Saurav Sarkar

In this publication, on Fri., Nov. 12, Alex DeMille asserted that " American politics [is] completely devoid of ideas" [YH, 11/12/99]—a view often echoed on Yale's campus, and, in general, by anyone who remains unwilling to break into chants of "U.S.A, U.S.A" at the first opportunity. Like most people here, cynicism runs deep in my veins, and the Ward 22 election in New Haven certainly didn't strengthen my faith in American politics. However, from what I've read about the upcoming Presidential election, I'm hopeful that things will be different. This time, Bill Bradley is running for President.

The irony of the situation is that when he quit the Senate in 1995, Bradley shared DeMille's outlook, that "on a basic level politics is broken." Actually, this fact was one of the few things I knew about Bradley before a few months ago. What else did I know? Bradley grew up in a small town in Middle America, went to Princeton, became an NBA star with the Knicks in the mid-1960s, then became a New Jersey Senator in 1978, and finally quit due to his disillusionment with the political system. Gore, Bradley, what's the difference, right?

In this case, the devil is in the details. Bradley is leading a quiet revolution—offering the American public an option to the mediocre choices we've gotten time and time again in the past decade. Bradley is a leader in the truest sense of the word. For decades, he has conducted thousands of conversations with people of all backgrounds in order to gain perspective on their lives. Compare that to politicians who can't even name the price of milk or eggs in a supermarket.

When he resigned from Congress, Bradley stated publicly that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans were "[speaking] to people where they lead their lives." Compare that to the passage of the 1996 welfare "reform" bill by those who stayed in office. Bradley offers long-term solutions to society's problems, for he believes that "the role of the President is not to shrink from challenges, but to confront challenges." Compare this to those who support school uniforms and the end of "the era of big government." In short, Bradley's approach to life and to politics inspires trust in a way that almost all other politicians fail to do, even those with whom I agree more often on smaller political issues.

So, enough with the hype: what's Bradley about? Some of his major plans include eliminating child poverty in the United States, making health care accessible to every American, and the radical overhaul of the campaign finance reform system. Of course, one might say that it's easy to produce such visions, since many have before. But again, if you look at the details of what Bradley is actually proposing, it's clear that his solutions involve a fair amount of thought. For instance, his health-care solution provides not just guaranteed care, but it also calls for cost control, investment in education, and more health research. Whatever you may think of Bradley's moderate approach, it's hard to dispute the fact that his policies demonstrate forethought and concern for those who would be affected by them.

On Sun., Nov 14, dozens of Yalies, including myself, left New Haven at an extremely early hour in the hopes that there could be a politician out there who refutes the facile argument that there's nothing right with American politics simply because there's a lot wrong with it. I was rewarded with a strengthened faith that after decades of mediocrity, there's finally someone I can vote for at the national level who has the whole package: intelligence, integrity, and information. Bill Bradley is the only candidate in recent memory who takes the phrase "public servant" literally, and he's got my vote.

Recent Herald Columns by this Columnist:
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• Gay marriage opponents deserve no respect, 11/5/99
• Pakistan's coup is not a bad move, 10/22/99
• The Reform Party: America's laughingstock, 10/8/99

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