Senator Alan Cranston: Hawkish Dove

Historical Essay

Originally published in "It's About Times," the Abalone Alliance newspaper, Oct-Nov. 1983

"If the consequences of nuclear war are total -- and they are -- then our commitment to preventing it must be total as well." -- Alan Cranston, in a campaign letter to California liberals

"I support the theory of deterrence, even though it would not work forever." -- Cranston, in an interview with Rolling Stone

Ever since Kennedy pulled out of the 1984 presidential contest, Senator Alan Cranston (D-Ca) has promoted himself as the Great Liberal Hero and heir apparent to the 11 million-vote wealth of the Nuclear Freeze.

Cranston's campaign has been built around' his jumping on the Freeze bandwagon, and in timehonored fashion, some Freezers have returned the favor. This is particularly odious and myopic because on four separate occasions since 1975 Cranston has voted for the B-1 strategic bomber. The last time was this summer, shortly after he "championed" the Freeze cause in the Senate.

Cranston has also voted against deleting funds for development and production of the F-18 fighter plane (1978) and for continued development of the MX (1981).

In 1978 Cranston led the fight to abolish the federal Renegotiation' Board, an agency whose function was to scrutinize Pentagon procurement contracts for excessive profiteering.

In 1972, Lockheed Aircraft, the third largest military contractor in the country, was in serious financial trouble and facing bankruptcy. Cranston came to the rescue again, ushering a $250 million bail-out bill through the Senate.

Cranston's attempts to justify his support for the B-1 bomber are a remarkable example of convoluted reasoning --so convoluted, in fact, that even the national press corps, which has been known to accept some truly astounding excuses from major politicians, seems to find it hard to swallow.

This home at the corner of Ashbury and Page Streets in the Haight-Ashbury district is the place where future Senator Alan Cranston grew up. Curiously, the basement, accessible through a door at 460 Ashbury on lower left of this image, was also the 2nd office of the 1980s underground magazine Processed World.

Here's the essence of the rap, in its latest version: Nuclear war is unthinkable, and would be the end of the human race. The Republicans have brought us perilously close to the unthinkabfe, and we get closer every day. Above all,' that danger comes from "the failure of our leaders" who have "ignored the cries of the people."

Now watch closely: As long as we don't have those leaders, Cranston contends, we have no choice but to endorse "deterrence." Deterrence, of course, requires state-of-the-art equipment. The old B-52 bomber fleet is "becoming antiquated," so we have to replace it. And the B-1 seems to be the plane for the job.

Since his first major defeat -- in a 1964 race for the Democratic nomination for the Senate -- Cranston has worked hard never to alienate a major block of potential supporters. He has earned a widespread reputation as the Great Compromiser, a liberal who can sit down and Talk Turkey. If there is one thing Alan Cranston is not, it's a Crusader.

Yet some of the rhetoric he has been spouting to show his die-hard support for the Freeze is nothing short of Quixotic. "Our generation has-a duel with destiny;" a recent campaign flyer proclaims. "The finish line is not Election Day, 1984," it goes on to say. "That will be only the starting line of the campaign that really counts -- to heal our own nation and to bring ourselves and our children out from under the dark shadow of nuclear war." Our aim, he says, "must be the total abolition of nuclear weapons."

Heady stuff.. and, even among the high-flying bullshit of presidential propaganda, a bit remarkable for a man who has built an entire career around keeping the support of his home state's biggest Pentagon contractors -- people who would be put right out of business by "the total abolition of nuclear weapons."

Which is exactly the point. Cranston knows damn well he can't afford to drop such powerful backers like so many lead balloons. But he also knows they don’t give a snaildarter’s ass WHAT he says in public about the arms race. They care about how he votes, and what he does for them behind Capitol Hill doors.