United States History - Social Aspects, United States Studies - General & Miscellaneous, U.S. Politics & Government - 20th Century, U.S. Politics & Government - 1992-2001, Public Opinion - United States, National Characteristics - North America, Political

Values Matter Most

Name: Values Matter Most
Author: Ben J. Wattenberg
ISBN: 9780029337950

by Ben J. Wattenberg

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Overview

In 1992, most pundits accepted the famous line of the Clinton campaign that the election was about "the economy, stupid." But in 1994, with the economy flourishing, voters dumped the Democrats. What happened? Why? What is likely to happen next? Ben Wattenberg answers with Values Matter Most, a book that is, at once, a fascinating and lively inside political story, a nuanced portrait of America in the mid-nineties, and a stark political thesis. In the controversial 1970 bestseller The Real Majority, Wattenberg and Richard Scammon argued that "the social issue" - now often called "values" - including crime, welfare, race, discipline, drugs, promiscuity and prayer - had suddenly become coequal with economics as the key to voter behavior. They warned Democrats to pay attention, or they would lose. They didn't, and they did. Now, after 25 years of social deterioration in America, Wattenberg dramatically advances the argument. He says that the concern about values has become the number one issue, and properly so. Wattenberg vividly narrates the history of the values issue in American politics. He says that whichever party and candidates now best understand the social concerns of a restless electorate, and act upon these issues, will be rewarded in national, state, and local elections in 1996 and beyond. He caps his analysis with strategy lessons for Republicans, Democrats, and potential third (or even fourth or fifth) party candidates.

A salvo against the conventional wisdom about American life and politics, Values Matter Most properly deals with what troubles Americans most--"The Social Issue"--crime, welfare, race, discipline, and more. Wattenberg caps his lively analysis with strategy lessons for Democrats, Republicans, and potential third (or even fourth) party candidates. 50 charts & graphs.

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Editorials

Library Journal

PBS talk show host and syndicated columnist Wattenberg challenges the notion that it is economic concerns that drive people most in electing presidents and members of Congress. Rather, what concerns voters are social values that they believe can be changed through the political process: crime, welfare, education, and affirmative action. Wattenberg backs up his claims with a plethora of statistics gathered from surveys and polls that indicate support for his viewpoint. His experience in publishing this type of statistical information is well known in the field; many of the claims that he makes here mirror the same concerns that he has raised in other books, particularly The Real America (LJ 12/1/74). Wattenberg is also known for his "feel good" journalistic approach to statistics, with his basic opinion being that things are not so bad. The problem with this kind of analysis is that Wattenberg spends less than a paragraph on the federal budget deficit and provides no numbers to indicate that it is not such a bad problem. He also believes that politicians should just stand up and vote for the changes he advocates (longer prison sentences, cutting off welfare benefits to single mothers, ending racial quotas), because his survey and poll results show that most Americans feel this way. Unfortunately, most Americans are not Washington lobbyists, so it may not be as easy as Wattenberg thinks. Still, he offers some interesting ideas and gives a cogent explanation of what happened in the 1994 Congressional elections. Recommended for public library collections.-Patricia Hatch, Emmanuel Coll., Boston

Mary Carroll

Wattenberg, pundit of the radical middle, argues in his eighth book (and a forthcoming PBS special) that values issues--not "the economy, stupid" --have increasingly dominated presidential politics for the past quarter century (since he and pollster Richard Scammon wrote "The Real Majority") and that the candidate and/or party adopting the correct position on these issues in 1996 will win and can perhaps "save the nation." Wattenberg distinguishes two kinds of values issues: "social" issues, which are important, harmful (and widely agreed to be harmful) to society, and at least partly caused by (and therefore soluble by) government; and "cultural" issues, on which there's little consensus and which have limited potential for government action. Thus Wattenberg counsels candidates to offer alternatives to what he calls--and candidate Clinton in 1992 called--" something for nothing" policies on four "social" issues: crime, welfare, education, and "affirmative-action-as-now-practiced." The book includes charts and graphs to support Wattenberg's read on these issues and free advice for 1996 candidates of the major parties as well as Perot, Powell, and Jackson. An arguable but articulate statement of views that many Americans share.