Drawing from decades of work in the public eye, Robert Reich '68 emphasized the need for constituent involvement and widespread understanding of political issues at a speech in Cook Auditorium Friday.
A former U.S. Secretary of Labor who is now vying for the Massachusetts governorship, Reich received the Nelson A. Rockefeller '30 Public Service Award for his career accomplishments and proceeded to speak on "Politics and Principles" to an audience of primarily community members.
Reich credited fellow Democrat Eugene McCarthy as being his model for public engagement in politics. In April 1968 -- his senior spring -- Reich left Dartmouth for two months to work on McCarthy's presidential campaign.
McCarthy "was not an ideologue," Reich said. "He would talk about the facts and help his audience understand what the implications were."
In his current gubernatorial race, Reich said that he is following McCarthy by "keeping the heat at just the right level that people feel challenged and provoked ... but are still open to learning."
"Leadership is about a dialogue," he said. "It's also about engaging, mobilizing and energizing people -- bringing them along and giving them responsibility."
Reich portrayed his political style as the middle ground in an arena either dominated by "the constrained view" of poll-tracking politics, which he classified as the "Dick Morris paradox" in reference to the former adviser to President Bill Clinton, or by pure policy.
Rather than resorting to the arrogance of ideological preaching or using polling data as a solution, he argued, politicians must listen to and work with the public.
Reich is working with a team of 700 volunteers in what he deemed a grassroots campaign -- the only gubernatorial team to have a large student intern program, he told The Dartmouth in an interview.
"We've gotten support from many people who have not been involved in politics before," Reich said. "I'd like to think that I'm inspiring people to make them believe they can make a difference."
While Reich said that his support comes from throughout Massachusetts, in coming weeks he will work to mobilize poorer voters, he said.
"I feel that in recent years, politicians have turned their back on the poor, because they don't feel they'll vote. That's a self-fulfilling prophecy in many ways."
Through this process of political engagement, Reich hopes to quell a commonly held view that "politics is bad, but policy is beautiful," which he argued was "fundamentally anti-democratic."
"It assumes that democracy, in its applied form, politics, is inherently dirty," he said.
Reich added, "It can't be that we have on one side all politics and no principle, and on the other side all principle and no politics."
This middle-ground policy has proven successful in his campaign.
"I'm enormously encouraged by the outpouring of support and enthusiasm," Reich told The Dartmouth. "In a little over 90 days, we have developed enormous momentum" to overcome a late entry into the race for governor.
Reich's combination of experience, values and distance from the current state government distinguishes his candidacy from that of his opponents, he said.
At the state Democratic party convention from May 31 to June 1, Reich must win 15 percent of delegates' votes to get on the ballot.
All six Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls are "good, solid candidates," Reich said. "Each brings something different to the table."
Sole Republican candidate Mitt Romney, another newcomer to elected office, "will be a formidable opponent, mainly because he has deep pockets," Reich added.
