Alfonse D'Amato

Show the American people you can work together

Posted

This is by far the most divisive presidential campaign this country has ever seen. We have two candidates who refuse to even shake each other’s hand before the start of a debate. Neither one has the wholehearted support of the voters in his or her party.

Nasty campaigns are part of our history. We’ve seen some real battles, from John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson to Jimmy Carter vs. Ronald Reagan, but Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump can’t even bear to be civil toward each other. I would venture to say that they hate each other. For the first time I can remember, they don’t even rely mainly on surrogates to do their dirty work; they go right after each other. What kind of tone is that setting for any chance of progress being made in our country?

Right now, voters feel disenchanted by the state of our country, by who will lead us over the next four years and by local politics. The economy is sluggish, the middle class is shrinking, and it almost feels as if America is losing some of the spirit that makes it the best country in the world. There are feelings of distrust, anger and frustration toward politics right now. Can you really blame the American public?

Whoever we elect is going to have to reach across the aisle in order to fix this nation. We need tax reform, trade reform and immigration reform. We desperately need to reduce the national debt.

When I served in the Senate, time and time again my colleagues and I put political differences aside. In October 1992 I waged a memorable filibuster in defense of the Smith Corona company, headquartered in the small upstate town of Cortland. My filibuster lasted 15 hours and 15 minutes, and I stood proud every single second.

At the time, Smith Corona was considering moving jobs to Mexico in order to compete against foreign companies who were underpricing their product. The company’s CEO promised me that if Congress strengthened the anti-“dumping” laws that bar foreign companies from manufacturing components in one place, assembling the machines in another and then selling them in the U.S. at unfair rates, he would keep the factory in Cortland.

My Democratic colleague Sen. Pat Moynihan and I included the necessary amendment in a 1992 tax bill. But without consulting either of us, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Lloyd Bentsen killed the amendment, meaning that more than 800 jobs would now be leaving New York for Mexico.

After I stood alone for six hours, Moynihan, my great friend and Senate partner, joined me on the Senate floor because he, too, believed in the cause. Although we lost that day, we proved to the people of New York that regardless of party, we were going to work together to fight for them.

Some of our nation’s greatest accomplishments came to fruition because our leaders weren’t afraid to cross party lines for meaningful legislation. President Lyndon Johnson formed a coalition of Republican and Democratic senators to save and pass the civil rights bill, President Reagan reached out to House Speaker Tip O’Neill on tax reform, and I worked with President Clinton and Speaker Newt Gingrich to produce welfare reform and dramatically reduce the nation’s debt.

If Hillary Clinton wins, she should take a page out of her husband’s playbook. During the Clinton administration, Gingrich was on top of the political world, coming off his Contract with America and a Republican takeover in Washington. He became the go-to man in the Republican Party for Clinton, and they got things done.

Gingrich and Clinton brought Republicans and Democrats to the table to pass a federal spending bill that reduced the federal deficit and restructured entitlement programs, something Washington desperately needs to do now. In 1998, as a result of their spending bill and a boost in our nation’s economy, the public debt was reduced. When Clinton left office, the national debt was approximately $5.8 trillion. Do you know what it is today? Over $19 trillion!

Based on the current campaign, does anyone actually believe that either of these candidates can work with Congress when they can’t even shake hands with each other? My advice to the eventual winner? Remember that when both sides work together, remarkable things are possible.

Al D’Amato, a former U.S. senator from New York, is the founder of Park Strategies LLC, a public policy and business development firm. Comments about this column? ADAmato@liherald.com.