1974 Democratic rout and 2006: similarities and differences.

Published on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 by the Philadelphia Inquirer
1974, a Political Rout for Democrats
Things Were a lot Like 2006 - Unpopular GOP President, Controversial War - But Different, too
by The Rev. Bob Edgar


In 1974, the year I was first elected to represent Pennsylvania's Seventh District in Congress, the world was different.

Some of us are tempted to remember 1974 as a good year - at least better than the one we're going through now. Stevie Wonder won Grammies for "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and "Superstition." The Rockford Files premiered on NBC. Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home-run record. And John Lennon appeared with Elton John at Madison Square Garden.

Looking back, of course, 1974 also had its shadows. Patty Hearst was kidnapped, the radical Symbionese Liberation Army was engaged in violent confrontations with the Establishment, and Ted Bundy's first murder victim was abducted in Seattle.

It seems like there was a major news story every day in 1974, and large, sinister forces were at work to make people anxious about the future. One of the obvious results of the national angst was the November election in which the Democrats won 49 House seats from the Republicans to control the House 291 to 144 - an advantage of 147 seats.

As this year's election campaigns enter the home stretch, many are saying this will be a Democratic year, too. The angst of the American public will cause them to turn against the GOP.

For many Americans, 2006 looks a lot like the 1974 we remember. Let's make a check list:

An unpopular Republican president tries to shore up GOP candidates by appealing to voters' patriotism. A war described by many as a mistake has lost the support of the silent majority. A scandal at the highest levels of government angers the voters. A bearded cleric makes Americans uncomfortable by his calls for an Islamic theocracy. A report in the New York Times reveals that our overuse of chlorofluorocarbons is melting the Earth's ozone layer. And an oil shortage causing long lines at the pumps cancels a lot of summer vacations.

The correlations aren't perfect, of course. The Vietnam War was winding down in 1974, and the Iraq experience has ceased to be a war and is now, in the estimation of professor George Lakoff of the University of California, Berkeley, an American occupation.

Even so, if the events on that list were enough to push the electorate to the left in 1974, then this year will see a Democratic sweep.

But life and politics are not that simple. For one thing, President Gerald Ford and his candidates did not have the advantage of 24-hour-a-day cable and broadcast-news stations reporting their message in a favorable light. There are a dozen TV interview programs in which a shouting host extols his guests from the radical right and pummels his guests from the left and center.

These same hosts call on religious leaders like James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Franklin Graham and Pat Robertson to tell viewers what people of faith think. They say we think the president is a devout Christian who was told by God to attack Iraq. They say we think Islam is a violent religion. They say we don't believe in global warming. They say we want our leaders to throw 11 million undocumented immigrants out of the country and build a fence to keep them out. They say we don't believe some of our tax money should be spent to help the poor. They say we think tax breaks for the rich will make us all better off down the line.

None of this is true, of course, at least for the majority of us who don't take radical stands and who worship in churches, synagogues and mosques that preach God's message of love, mercy and peace. But on Election Day 2006, a lot of voters will go to the polls after watching Bill O'Reilly and Pat Robertson. The question for me is: Will they assume these commentators speak for all of us? Or will they listen to their own consciences? Will they vote for candidates - of either party - whose moral values have not been abducted by the right?

Personally, I think 2006 will be a better year than 1974, regardless of who wins. A lot of things we started in 1974 were good ideas that got better with time. For example, in July 1974 the Episcopal Church began to ordain women as priests. Next month, the Episcopal Church installs its first female prelate, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

That's progress. And with God's help, our representatives in Washington and our pundits on the screen will also make progress in another 32 years.

The Rev. Bob Edgar (redgar@ncccusa.org) is general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA and formerly represented Delaware County in Congress.

© 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources.