Doing the Reich Thing

Since his late entry to the Massachusetts governor’s race in January, Robert Reich has confounded skeptics and mobilized a network of volunteer activists that invites comparisons to Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign. Win or lose, he hopes his effort will jumpstart a revival of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Although Reich has never run for elected office before, he has considerable name recognition as labor secretary in the first Clinton administration, a prolific author and frequent television commentator. Still, he stunned the experts by flooding the party caucuses and electing hundreds of delegates to the state democratic convention. (Full disclosure: I was one of them). Reich is running neck-and-neck with State Treasurer Shannon O’Brien for the lead in the polls for the September 17 Democratic primary.

Reich is connecting with audiences by presenting himself as a battle-hardened public servant and unabashedly declaring progressive positions on issues from health care to public education to gay marriage. He is now barnstorming the state with a caravan of supporters called the “Reich Reform Express.” He speaks openly of “social justice,” tough enforcement of environmental laws, and addressing the “inordinate power” of corporations in the political process. Reich, who stands less than 5 feet tall, steps up to the microphone on a small platform and jokes, “As a candidate, I stand on my platform.”

He faces three formidable rivals in the primary: O’Brien, state Senate President Tom Birmingham, and former state Sen. Warren Tolman. The winner will face Republican Mitt Romney, best known for his stint as head honcho of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. The Green Party is also fielding a gubernatorial candidate for the first time, physician Jill Stein.

I sat down with Reich just before the state Democratic convention to talk about his campaign and his critics.

You have been a sharp critic of corporate power and its influence in society and government. How do you see that playing out in the campaign?

The public is sick and tired of corporations that are self-serving, executives who are making fortunes and, at the same time, laying off their workers and overriding the democratic -- “small d” -- will of the public. I plan to reduce influence-peddling and the kind of back-scratching that has characterized the place for so long. ... I think the public will get behind that kind of an agenda. I don’t think that’s a hard sell at all.

How will you respond to the inevitable charge from the business community that “Reich is just another anti-business liberal. He will cost us jobs and raise taxes”?

Quite the contrary. Good businesses are very supportive of efforts that rein in big and irresponsible businesses. It’s the good businesses that suffer, as much as anyone, because they can’t compete when big or politically well-connected businesses horn in on their markets and get special favors from the legislature. No, I’m not anti-business at all. I’m anti- the kind of business that uses its power to corrupt the democratic process.

Progressives are feeling kind of homeless in Massachusetts. In the last presidential election, Ralph Nader got about 7 percent -- one of his highest totals in the country. But of the more than 4 million registered voters in Massachusetts, only about 4,000 are members of the Green Party. Almost half of the registered voters are independents, and less than a third declare themselves as Democrats. What do you think is going on?

I think a lot of people are trying to figure out whether it is worth trying to get back involved with the Democratic Party -- or whether the Democratic Party is basically dead, and they have to look elsewhere. I am of the view that it is still possible to revitalize the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. And that is what, in my own modest way, I’m trying to do here in Massachusetts. Now, I don’t know that I will be successful. I hope so. The polls are very encouraging. The momentum is there. But my long-term hope is that we can revive a Democratic Party in which progressives feel welcome.