From his early insistence on weaning the Democratic Party from its dependence on social programs to his reluctance to support Bill Clinton's re-election bid last year, Paul Tsongas showed time and again that he was an independent thinker. Regardless of whether one agreed with him, it would have been difficult to accuse the former Democratic senator from Massachusetts of being anything less than genuine, and that makes his death Saturday a big loss to the American political scene.
Tsongas advocated a common-sense approach to the federal budget. That made him an anomaly among late 20th-century politicians, some of whom seem to care only about decisions that will please as many voters as possible. As early as 1981, he was warning fellow Democrats to temper their well-meaning liberal idealism or face a fiscal crisis. It was an unpopular position politically, particularly at a time when Republicans were beginning to make taxes and the economy a centerpiece of the conservative agenda.Yet Tsongas' warnings have proven correct, and he never abandoned them. In recent years, he co-founded the Concord Coalition with former Sen. Warren Rudman, a Republican from New Hampshire. The group is dedicated to reducing the federal budget deficit.
Tsongas was an anomaly in other ways, too. He never blossomed in the media spotlight. He preferred to let his message lead the way rather than cultivate any indefinable charismatic qualities. Undoubtedly, this led to his loss in the 1992 Democratic primary race to the much more polished and media-savvy Bill Clinton.
Tsongas had his liberal side. For example, his foreign policy positions often were characterized as too accommodating and unrealistic. But colleagues and the public knew that his opinions were his and that they were based on study and thought.
In this age of ethics violations and special-interest lobbies, the legacy Tsongas left is worth studying and celebrating.