March 10, 2006
Democrats Can Learn From Chile's Bachelet
By Froma Harrop

Democrats, take a long look at Chile's new president and ask yourselves, "What's she got that we don't?" Find the answer, and power can be yours.

Chile is considered the most macho and strait-laced country in Latin America. Michelle Bachelet, its new Socialist president, is a non-religious single mother who had her third child out of wedlock. Furthermore, her main opponent in the recent election was an attractive conservative businessman.

Not to overdo this, but Chile and the United States do have some things in common. For one, the conservative nature of Chilean society may have been exaggerated. As historian Alfredo Jocelyn-Holt told The New York Times, the "society is much more liberal in its behavior than its discourse." He argued that abortion (still illegal in Chile), homosexuality and other practices considered immoral are fairly common but kept underground.

My guess is that many Americans are also more liberal-minded than their rhetoric makes them seem. And what Democrats need to understand is that the "discourse" -- what they say and the way they say it -- often matters more to people than the underlying position.

For example, most Americans probably couldn't care less whether someone is gay. Polls show an increasing indifference to sexual orientation. And you have all those stories of conservative communities rushing to defend local gay people who come under attack by creeps from the outside.

But that doesn't mean that they are ready for same-sex marriage. I had lunch recently with a close friend, a staunch Democrat who came from a working-class Irish family. She's quite liberal, and gay people are regular guests at her dinner table. But when our conversation veered toward gay marriage, she said, "I think marriage should be between a man and a woman."

I'm convinced that same-sex unions and perhaps gay marriage will eventually become widely accepted, but these things have to evolve slowly. With rapid change twirling everyone around, a lot of people simply don't feel like throwing two millennia of domestic custom overboard. They need some continuity.

Americans profess to love both individualism and traditional values, but these two things don't coexist easily. Perhaps that is why we try so hard to keep a lid on social change: The wild Saturday night has to be followed by a virtuous Sunday morning, or everything will spin out of control.

Chile churns in its own whirlwind of change. Its fast-growing economy, the star of South America, has been opened to free trade and foreign investment. Meanwhile, the 17-year dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet -- during which Bachelet and her parents were tortured -- is fading history to Chileans under 20. Democracy now seems to be taken for granted.

Bachelet is a comforting figure. She comes off as someone who will let capitalism deliver the goods, while sheltering the weak from its cold winds. She supports free markets, but promises to address Chile's highly polarized wealth. And although she wants friendly ties with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales, she will have nothing to do with their anti-American bombast.

To Bachelet's great credit, she never made a phony apology for her checkered past. Upfront about her agnosticism, she did not feign religious piety to win over traditionalists in this overwhelmingly Catholic nation. Yet her work, words and political goals reflect a deep Christian ethic. A pediatrician, she served on a national AIDS commission and helped sick children. She is gracious to political foes. Of the terrible Pinochet years, she advocates forgiveness and reconciliation.

Americans whiplashed by economic and social change could also use a gentle hand from their national government. Republicans are good at defending social custom, but they show few qualms about throwing American workers into the global Mixmaster. Democrats could do a much better job of making open markets less painful -- not by opposing free trade, but by helping the people hurt by it.

But Democrats have work to do on their cultural message. They should observe how Michelle Bachelet -- a woman who embodies social change -- also manages not to scare people.

How well Bachelet performs in office remains to be seen. But she sure knows how a liberal can win an election in a country that regards itself as conservative. Democrats would do well to study her blueprint.

Copyright 2006 Creators Syndicate

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