ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the association between Bill Clinton and the New Liberalism and analyzes the fundamental flaws in the ideology and political strategy of the New Liberalism. Bill Clinton's association with the principles expounded by the New Liberalism stretches back to his 1980 defeat for reelection after one term as governor of Arkansas. Clinton's strategy of ignoring or obscuring issues of racial equality appears to have had the desired effect. Though Clinton's weak position on civil rights caused black turnout to drop, increased white support for the Democratic ticket more than offset black abstentions. Nevertheless, Clinton's increased competitiveness among whites seems to have resulted from Ross Perot's draining of white support from George Bush rather than from a surge in support for the Democrats. Though Clinton and other proponents of the New Liberalism had claimed that deemphasizing race was necessary for the Democrats to achieve more liberal economic policies, his first year's agenda offered little of the sort.
