Democrats on the stump plot their war rhetoric
Some contenders vow to keep up protest
By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 3/11/2003
boston.com
WASHINGTON -- When war starts, political sniping usually stops. But that will not be the case this time around with some Democratic presidential contenders.
Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio and former senator Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois plan to maintain their staunch antiwar rhetoric, even if fighting breaks out between the United States and Iraq.
''The congressman will continue to support the troops, but you can support the troops and challenge the policy,'' Doug Gordon, Kucinich's chief of staff, said yesterday.
Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, who voted to authorize military action but has accused President Bush of rushing into war, said he will cease his complaints once the shooting starts.
''It's what you owe the troops,'' said a statement from Kerry, a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War. ''I remember being one of those guys and reading news reports from home. If America is at war, I won't speak a word without measuring how it'll sound to the guys doing the fighting when they're listening to their radios in the desert.''
The impending war has prompted the field of nine contenders to rethink their schedules and speaking topics. An aide to one contender scheduled to address this weekend's California Democratic Party state convention said, only half in jest, ''We may have to write a second speech'' in the event war breaks out unexpectedly.
The lull in traditional stumping may even help the contenders.
Each is furiously raising money in advance of a March 31 reporting deadline, so anything that allows them to work out of the spotlight is welcome. The reports, which will be released April 15, are viewed by the campaigns as the first true benchmark of their relative strength, so the contenders have been spending hours in recent weeks dialing for dollars from their campaign headquarters, their homes, and offices used solely for fund-raising.
''I'm happy to have less press coverage right now,'' said the press secretary to another contender. ''I think it's started too soon, and if it gets pushed off now and they come back to us in the summer, I don't think that hurts us.''
Within the field, four of the five members of Congress voted last fall to authorize military action. Those voting ''Yes'' were Kerry and Senators John Edwards of South Carolina and Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, as well as Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri. Senator Bob Graham of Florida voted against the resolution.
The strong pro-administration positions taken by Edwards, Lieberman, and Gephardt in particular have prompted some criticism on the campaign trail this winter, particularly in Iowa, where there is a vocal antiwar movement. Each has been regularly upbraided by residents opposed to their votes.
''I think it's fair to say it is a dominant issue, but it certainly is not the sole issue that comes up on the campaign trail,'' Gephardt spokesman Erik Smith said.
Kerry has enunciated a more detailed position, saying he supports disarming Iraq of any weapons of mass destruction, which Bush says the country possesses, but only after making every effort to array a multinational coalition against it. On Saturday in Des Moines, the senator arrived to the chant of protesters, then faced tough questions from local Democrats he hoped to sway to his stance.
At the same time, four other contenders -- Kucinich, Moseley Braun, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, and the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York -- have used their antiwar rhetoric to ignite partisan crowds.
But Dean has said he would support military action after a 60-day warning period, and over the weekend in Iowa, said he was not sure how he would behave as a candidate if war broke out.
There was no ambivalence from the Kucinich and Moseley Braun camps. Sharpton's staff did not return calls seeking comment.
''We are going to continue to campaign and continue to raise issues about where this country is headed,'' Moseley Braun spokesman Kevin Lampe said.
Moseley Braun, former US ambassador to New Zealand, will be among the candidates speaking this weekend in California on the eve of potential war. Kucinich, also scheduled to address California Democrats, said he has no immediate plans for changing his schedule or subject matter.
''I will continue to travel the country to challenge the Bush administration's policies to work for peace,'' he said in a statement.
While Kerry vowed to support the administration during combat, he put the president and his rivals on notice that he plans to use the issue to differentiate himself during the unfolding campaign. He, too, is planning to address the California Democrats.
''Make no mistake,'' he said in his statement. ''There will be an appropriate time to talk about the failures of diplomacy of the last months, because they speak to the larger foreign policy failures of this administration. I rejected the decision by some Democrats to surrender foreign policy issues to the Republican Party. I thought it was shameful. I think while you strike the right tone while troops are in the field, if you're running to be commander in chief, you better have a compelling case to make that you're better than the one we currently have.''
Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.
This story ran on page A3 of the Boston Globe on 3/11/2003.
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