Pushing public policies that will "lift everybody's boat," Democratic state Congressional candidate John Tierney campaigned before an audience of about 50 at a Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats meeting last night in Emerson Hall.

"This is no time for complaining. This is no time for sitting back and licking our wounds," Tierney said of the lack of consensus in the Democratic party. "This is a time for establishing who we are."

Tierney, 44, is currently running against Republican incumbent Peter Torkildsen in the sixth congressional district located in the northeast corner of Massachusetts.

Tierney discussed the complacency that afflicted the Democratic party after the New Deal in the 1930s.

"Democrats did not go back to revisit the programs. They did not innovate or take the initiative," Tierney said. Once they had the numbers, they started taking money from special interests."

With this trend, Tierney said, the tax code began to grow without reciprocating to the constituents in terms of new or micro-managed social programs.

Republicans have taken advantage of this inefficiency and now advocate scrapping the social service programs altogether, he said.

"But we can do better," Tierney said. "We can have a clean environment and good business policy. We can stand for the upward mobility of a larger number of the people."

Republicans promote repealing social programs in favor of tax breaks for the rich. Tierney said, adding that he wants to foster advancement and mobility of the nation by putting forward education, business research and a better infrastructure.

"The biggest party is the I-can't-make-a-difference-I-don't-care-party," Tierney continued. "And when that happens, democracy is headed down the shooters."

Tierney decried the Republican's pro-business "dirty water act" as an abdication of social responsibility.

"We need a new social atmosphere," he said. "We need someone to stand up and say that it is not okay just to go for the bottom line."

"I want to be known as someone with the ideas on how to move everybody forward. We have to ask how policies will increase productivity and how they will increase jobs," Tierney said. "I want to give people a reason to vote and to get rid of the feeling that what they do won't matter."

Reactions to Tierney's speech were positive.

"I think that his speech was very inspiring," said Derek T. Ho '96, president of the College Democrats. "He was able to hit lots of traditional issues of concern to college students and democrats in general."

Even though his campaign district does not include Harvard, Tierney still asked for support with his campaign.

"Hopefully I convinced a bunch of people to actively work in a system and make a difference. And I hope I convinced them to do it with me," Tierney said