The People will if Congress won't

Today, the president and his men are putting the finishing touches on the "mother of all State of the Union addresses." Congressional Democrats are rehearsing their "dead-on-arrival" speeches. The two sides seem to share only one thing in common: a desire to stay in office.

Polls show that Americans have low expectations of Congress and the White House. Result: Americans increasingly turn to self-help, grass-roots measures to solve problems.

• There is an explosion in the use of grassroots lawmaking. For example, citizen petitions made the ballot 72 times in 1990, the most since 1932 when a record 74 petitions made the ballot.
  
• In Los Angeles last week, public pressure forced the city council to award a $121 million contract to build light-rail cars to U.S.-based Morrison Knudsen rather than Japan's Sumitomo. "Keep the jobs at home," they say.
  
• Monsanto and other U.S. companies, reacting to employee sentiment, announced programs to give workers down payment money -- up to $1,000 -- if they buy made-in-the- U.S.A. autos.
  
• Cashing in on grassroots feelings that the Japanese violate the norms of fair play, U.S. auto companies are planning massive "Buy American" advertising programs this spring. There are indicators this approach may spread to other industries.
  
• Some U.S. auto dealers are refusing to give top billing to Japan autos in their showrooms.
  

The flaming of activity by many U.S. consumers and some U.S. business leaders is ominous: If Washington cannot convince the Japanese government to open its markets, the U.S. consumer can deny the U.S. market to the Japanese by refusing to buy Japanese products.

Consumers don't mind that sophisticated economist tell them it won't work. Why? Japan produces too much of what we want. Consumers are turning a deaf ear to Washington political leaders who warn that it's counterproductive. Ordinary people, it seems, will use a butcher knife when those who would use the scalpel fail to get results.

Americans know U.S. construction companies are among the best in the world. Yet they are largely excluded from major public works projects. Consumers know the U.S. Chevrolet dealer can sell Toyotas, but Toyota dealers in Japan can't sell Chevy's. Americans believe Japanese consumers should be able to buy high-quality, low-cost U.S. beef and rice - and more and more Japanese consumers believe that, too.

So, if Washington gridlocks, the U.S. consumer can act unilaterally -- and apparently is. Adm. Yamamoto feared the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor would awaken a sleeping giant. Now, it seems, the American consumer has been awakened by a bickering, finger-pointing Congress; a listless, finger-in-the-air president; and what many see as predatory leaders of Japan Inc.

Once emboldened by their ability to shape events in international trade, consumers may turn their sights elsewhere. They may reinvigorate the movement to limit terms of career politicians. They may wrest control of the public schools from arrogant administrators, self-serving teachers unions and go-along school boards, so that poor and middle-class kids have choices in education like wealthy kids do.

So a lot is at stake tonight for both the president and Congress. The combination of political democracy and consumer sovereignty is unleashing powerful civic forces to counter executive branch drift and a self-serving Congress. Grassroots leaders will fill the void if gridlock persists in Washington.