Democratic Party Is in Search/Replace Mode
Unifying Message, Strong Nominee Are Elusive
URL:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19792-2003Jun21.html
By Edward Walsh
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 22, 2003; Page A06
ST. PAUL, Minn., June 21 -- The Democratic Party is searching for a unified message, and a powerful messenger who can deliver it next year against President Bush.
On that point there was consensus here this weekend among the men and women who run state Democratic parties throughout the nation and who gathered for the annual meeting of the Association of State Democratic Chairs. But it was also clear that the party's central rallying cry for 2004 -- and the presidential nominee who will give it voice -- remain very much in question.
"We know we don't want George W. for another four years," said Tina Abbott, first vice chairwoman of the Michigan Democratic Party. "People are together on that issue. We just haven't found the one to spark us."
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terence R. McAuliffe said the lack of a unified party message was unavoidable at this early date, when nine candidates are still vying for the nomination. The eventual nominee should be clear by early March, he said, and "that candidate will be our message and our messenger."
"People would like the Democrats to come out with a concerted message," McAuliffe said. "That's not going to happen now."
Six of the nine Democratic contenders addressed the meeting, in person or by closed-circuit television in what amounted to a festival of Bush-bashing that frequently brought the cheering audience to its feet. But the candidates' speeches and responses to questions revealed differences over how confrontational Democrats should be regarding national security and the war in Iraq.
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) brandished their antiwar credentials, each asserting that is opposition to the Iraq invasion made him the "only candidate" who could beat Bush. That put them at odds with Sens. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), all of whom voted for the congressional resolution that authorized Bush to take military action against Iraq.
"We have got to stop thinking that we are going to be elected president by doing half of this president's stuff," Dean said.
Lieberman, the Democratic field's most outspoken supporter of the war, told the gathering: "The American people won't vote for a candidate they don't believe will keep them secure."
Kerry and Lieberman vowed to engage in a Senate filibuster to block a confirmation vote if Bush names a "right-wing ideologue" to fill any future Supreme Court vacancy. Senate Democrats are using that tactic against two of Bush's appellate court nominees.
Throughout the two-day meeting, many state party leaders expressed optimism about Democrats' chances next year, despite Bush's continuing high approval ratings and the military success in Iraq.
"The state chairs are excited about 2004," said Missouri Democratic Chairman Joe Carmichael, president of the association. "We're convinced we can win it."
Fueling such optimism is a conviction that Bush remains vulnerable on the economy and other domestic issues, and a passionate desire by many grass-roots Democrats to oust him. Asked in interviews what Democrats in their states were seeking from the field of presidential contenders, several state chairmen replied simply, "A winner."
"This man is absolutely disliked," Arizona Democratic Chairman Jim Pederson said of the president. "People in our party are absolutely motivated to defeat this man."
The Democratic hopefuls are "pretty much the same on the major issues, and that's why it comes down to 'Can they win?' " said California Democratic Chairman Art Torres. "That's what a lot of us are looking at. 'Can you bring it all together?' "
During one session here, Torres noted that since 1960 the only Democrats to win the presidency -- Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton -- were southerners. "I think we need someone who can win in the South," he said later in an interview. "That may require a southerner on the ticket."
But like so much else involving the early jockeying among the Democratic hopefuls, there is no consensus on that question.
"The message is what it's all about," said Mississippi Democratic Chairman Rickey L. Cole. "We've got to have a message that people will listen to. The swing voters, they don't care what part of the country you're from."
Oklahoma Democratic Chairman Jay R. Parmley said: "The party has to have a nominee and a vice presidential nominee who can speak to rural Democrats in the South and Midwest. They don't necessarily have to be from the South, but they have to articulate a message that southern voters will like."
South Carolina party chairman Joe Erwin said he believes Democrats will need a southerner on the national ticket in order to oust Bush.
"We don't have to win in the South?" he said. "I don't believe that. Somebody is going to have to win in a southern state to be president of the United States."
"In politics, anybody can be beat," Erwin added. "This president has weaknesses. But if the economy is good and the war is over and the peace is won, it will be tough. We're going to need a break."
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