IT'S MIDDLE-CLASS WARFARE

AFTER LOSING ON WELFARE TO THE REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS HOPE ISSUES LIKE MEDICARE WILL LURE BACK A CORE CONSTITUENCY

JUST BEFORE THE SENATE VOTED last week on its welfare-reform bill, New York's Daniel Moynihan, who had engineered his own revision in 1988, demanded a bit of rare institutional solemnity. Since most of his fellow Democrats would be embracing what he considered a historic betrayal of the poor, the Senators should rise in turn from their desks to announce their votes aloud. But Moynihan was one of the few who bothered to stay at his seat during the voting. Democrats milled around. Republican Senators engaged in a round of celebratory backslapping with the 20 or so House members, including Speaker Newt...

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