Democratic Candidates, Playing to Two Audiences
DNC Warms to Strong Rhetoric, but Governors Wait for Message That Will Also Lure Swing Voters
By Dan Balz and David S. Broder
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, February 24, 2003; Page A04
URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55543-2003Feb23.html
Democratic presidential candidates face a growing gap between the demands of party activists for sharp attacks on President Bush and concerns among Democratic governors that the party's nominee must offer more than "class warfare" and negative rhetoric to win back the White House in 2004.
The divergence between the activist base of the party and the statewide elected leaders was on clear display here this weekend, with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hearing two days of fiery, liberal rhetoric by the candidates just as the governors were arriving for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association.
At the DNC meeting, the candidate who drew the most enthusiastic reception, with a speech blasting President Bush on war with Iraq, affirmative action and the economy, was former Vermont governor Howard Dean, with Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) and Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) not far behind.
But a number of the governors, in interviews the past two days, said they have been more impressed so far with the potential of Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), who did not speak at the DNC because of recent prostate surgery, and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), whose DNC speech fell noticeably flat.
The governors worry that the candidates will be driven too far to the left in their efforts to appeal to the party activists in the early stages of the nomination battle and not think enough about developing a message that can resonate not only with hardcore Democrats but with swing voters and independents who will determine the general election in 2004.
Unlike their GOP counterparts four years ago, whose early support of Bush helped make him the Republican presidential nominee, Democratic governors are making no moves to endorse any presidential candidate, preferring to wait and watch as the wide-open nomination contest unfolds.
The governors were not publicly critical of any of the candidates, but they warned that those seeking the nomination need a positive message and demonstrated leadership skills to challenge Bush in 2004, not just the ability to deliver the biggest applause lines at party gatherings.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said Bush could be vulnerable even in her state in 2004 "if the economy stays bad and people don't perceive that he has a plan for jobs." But she added, "Democrats have to do more than criticize Bush. One of the things I'm waiting to hear from the Democrats is, what's your plan?"
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he was concerned that Democrats have gone too far left in attacking Bush's tax cuts. The size of Bush's plan may have been too big, he said, but elements of it have helped to stimulate the economy in his state.
"I worry about what sounds like class warfare and hostility to tax cuts," said Richardson, whose first move as governor was to win passage of a package that cuts taxes by $360 million over five years, including a reduction in New Mexico's top income tax rate.
Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, who was elected in 2001 with the help of rural voters, said national Democrats could not win votes of rural voters or southerners simply with a message of class warfare. "National Democrats have got an enormous cultural mountain to climb to reach out to southern and rural voters," he said. "My message was economic growth and was more an appeal about how not to get left behind in an information age. It was not us-versus-them."
Another governor was more blunt. "Howard Dean gives off good sounds," he said, "but I don't think any of them are really seriously talking about policy."
The gap between the party officials who flocked here this weekend for the DNC meeting and the governors reflects the dual challenge facing all the candidates.
Their first goal is to win the nomination, and with the field at eight and growing, each of them is trying to find a base upon which to build a successful candidacy. That means meeting with and speaking to small groups of activist Democrats angry with Bush on war with Iraq and the economy and disappointed with their own leadership for failing to offer a sharp and clear message in last fall's midterm elections. They are looking for inspiring rhetoric, and many of the candidates are trying to meet that demand.
But the candidates' ultimate goal is to win the nomination in such a way that the nominee is positioned to compete for support at the center of the electorate, among swing voters who have given Bush strong marks for his handling of the war on terrorism and who are receptive to the compassionate side of his "compassionate conservative" message. Governors say a Democratic nominee will need credibility on national security and a forward-looking message on the economy.
After Friday's session at the DNC, much of the corridor conversation focused on Dean, who not only attacked Bush but also challenged his own party leadership and rebuked those Democrats (Lieberman, Kerry and Gephardt among them) who had supported the congressional resolution authorizing the president to go to war against Iraq.
Party officials from states such as Oklahoma, Wyoming and Alabama -- none of them known for liberal views -- said they were more impressed with Dean's performance than with any of the other three who spoke that morning (Lieberman, Gephardt and former Illinois senator Carol Moseley-Braun). "He led the way today," said Texas Democratic Chairwoman Molly Beth Malcolm. "People are starved for leadership and Howard Dean is showing leadership."
Some Democrats said Gephardt's speech "brought tears to my eyes," as James Frasier of Oklahoma put it, with one former party official saying that among those who had spoken, Gephardt had the most fully developed message that combined personal experience and policy innovation.
And once all the candidates had spoken (Saturday's group also included Al Sharpton and Ohio Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich), Bill Wheeler of Mississippi said he was most impressed with Edwards, saying he had a very good message that resonates with middle America. Dean, he said, "had a wonderful message" but he questioned whether it would appeal to independents. "We need a message that sells in a general election," he said.
The governors in town yesterday said they believe the president will be difficult to beat in 2004 unless the economy stays soft, and few offered the view that their own state economies were poised for a quick or robust turnaround. That could leave Bush vulnerable for the same reason his father was 12 years ago, if a Democratic nominee has found a way to reach beyond the Democratic base.
New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey urged the candidates to get back to basics in their speeches and not focus as much attention as some have on Iraq. "We need to be talking about the economy and education, things that will keep this country competitive in the long term."
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who has seen and heard the candidates more than his fellow governors have because his state holds the first event of the 2004 primaries and caucuses, agreed that the party's nominee needs a positive message but said he is not worried by the absence of one so far.
"It's pretty early to be concerned," he said. "We have to give these candidates a little leeway as they get their sea legs in this process." But he added, "Bill Clinton's advice to all of us was pretty good when he said that elections are about tomorrow, not about today or yesterday. It's incumbent particularly for Democrats."
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