News
November 3
To most Tufts students the year 1968 is canonized history, but Tufts trustee Alan Solomont (A '70), a visiting faculty member in the political science department, remembers the events of that year clearly. Along with of the Vietnam War, unrest in Czechslovakia and civil rights protests, Solomont witnessed what he calls "the fracturing of the Democratic party."
Since that time, Solomont has worked as an activist, a businessman and, more recently, a political fundraiser. In addition to teaching the Decision 2008: Campaign for the Presidency course in the Political Science Department, Solomont has played a vital role in helping the Obama campaign change the nature of campaign fundraising by chairing its effort in the Northeast.
Solomont's experience with politics amidst the turbulent backdrop of 1968 laid the foundation for his future political career. In that year, delegates to the Democratic National Convention nominated pro-war candidate and then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey, despite Humphrey's failure to enter a single primary. Primary voters had heavily favored then-Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-Minn.), and Humphrey's selection caused protests and rioting in the streets of Chicago.
Solomont, then in his third year at Tufts, witnessed the events firsthand and became somewhat disillusioned with politics. "The pendulum swung: We entered into an era of conservative control, and people became more skeptical and cynical about politics," he said.
Though frustrated, Solomont still decided to stay in politics. "[I] wanted to be part of a movement for social change." After receiving a fellowship from Tufts, he moved to Lowell, Mass., a general trend among young liberals, he said.
"It was a bunch of lefties from the anti-war movement," Solomont said. "We wanted to empower people to make changes in their own cities."
To make ends meet, Solomont took a job as an orderly at a nursing home, earning $2.32 an hour. Though he eventually lost that job — nominally, for smoking in the bathroom but in reality for trying to unionize the workers there — Solomont believed he had found his calling in elder care and decided to go to nursing school at UMass Lowell. His experience in medicine, coupled with his interest in business, prompted him to found the A.D.S Group, which became one of the largest elder care providers in New England.
But something was missing from Solomont's career. "I didn't have much in common with business," he said.
Still anxious to make a difference in the political world, Solomont began working as a fundraiser in local political races, including Michael Dukakis' 1974 campaign for Massachusetts governor. Solomont got his first experience with national politics in 1988, when Dukakis became the 1988 Democratic nominee for President.
During that time, he first met then-Gov. Bill Clinton (D-Ark.) and began fundraising work with the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
When the DNC fundraising apparatus came under fire during the early years of the Clinton administration, Solomont was asked to help rebuild it.
"Republicans were intent upon going after Clinton," Solomont said, admitting that "there were probably some excesses."
As one of the few Democratic fundraisers untouched by the allegations, Solomont was the perfect candidate to fix the apparatus. "I was hired to get the party out of debt and try to restore some credibility."
Solomont worked extensively with the Clinton White House throughout the 1990's and eventually became the National Finance Chairman of the DNC. Later, he served on the board of directors for the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Solomont's experience watching his party fall apart as a student and helping rebuild it as an adult has given him a unique perspective on the changes that have taken place in 2008 election.
"People were excited like in the late '60's. It started with the [Howard] Dean campaign," he said, referring to the 2004 presidential campaign that was noted for its ability to mobilize an immense grassroots following.
"[The 2008 election has] captured a new desire to become involved in politics," Solomont said. "It's way cool."
In addition to sparking new interest in politics, this presidential race has also ushered in a new era in campaign finances, something Solomont has witnessed first hand.
"The Obama campaign has completely changed the paradigm for fundraising," Solomont said. "It's engaged people like never before. People used to be limited to watching campaign commercials and writing checks, but [the Obama campaign] has created a social movement."
Despite these changes, campaign finance is often seen as the dark side of politics, the opposite end of the spectrum from the ambitious idealism that Solomont cherished as a student activist. Still, he denied that his primary political role as a fundraiser conflicts with his political ideals.
"People have grown uneasy and cynical about the amount of money in politics. They see [Sen.] Ted Stevens [R-Alaska] and think that's business as usual," Solomont said. "But you can't paint it with one brush."
Solomont cited his own fundraising experience as an example of how traditional campaign financing can be an instrument of democracy. "[The fundraising group that I work with] is the most extraordinary political organization I've ever seen. It's really a community of people that has taken on the campaign as its own."
Although he told Mother Jones magazine that he felt campaign contributions have been overstated in recent years, Solomont still favors finance reform.
"Campaign finance[ing] isn't uniformly bad, but scandals cost confidence in government," Solomont said.
