How liberals win

The necessity of corporate support for, or at least acquiescence to, liberal policies is not a new development in the history of American liberalism. Indeed it has been one of its hallmarks. …

Democratic presidents typically pay dearly when they choose to fight corporations instead of deal with them. Jimmy Carter sapped his political capital in the first two years of his presidency by trying to pass, with belligerent anticorporate rhetoric, a National Energy Act that would reduce our dependence on oil. He gave two major national addresses intended to rally the public and fend off critics’ attacks. At a town hall, he lashed out at oil companies for enjoying “a position of privilege in our country for too long” and having undue influence in Congress. But these confrontational tactics failed to rouse enough public ire to trump that influence, and Mr. Carter settled for a far smaller energy bill than he originally demanded.

Or consider President Bill Clinton. In 1993, his health care task force largely resisted meeting with insurance lobbyists as it drafted legislation. In turn, the insurers didn’t wait for the legislation to be finalized before embarking on a vicious advertising campaign. When the first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, tried to belittle that effort, fund-raising for the insurance lobby skyrocketed and its advertising budget quintupled. Mr. Clinton, his bully pulpit diminished, couldn’t get Congress to vote on his bill. He suffered such a humiliating defeat that his ability to enact any other progressive reform was severely crippled.