QUESTION FOR BEN NELSON
A Democrat Apart
Interview by MATT BAI
The New York Times
February 20, 2005
Q You are now the only Democratic senator who has said he will entertain the president's Social Security reform plan. Are you the new Zell Miller -- the Republicans' favorite Democrat?
Well, I might be some of the Republicans' favorite Democrat. But no, I don't see myself that way. I'm going to continue to go to the Democratic caucus. Zell chose not to. I just think it's common sense to see a plan before you criticize it.
It must be tough for Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who is also a Democrat, don't you think? People probably get confused, and he probably gets angry calls all day long.
Well, you know, we used to get each other's calls and each other's mail, and I was sorry when that stopped, because his calls were always more interesting than mine.
You are pretty friendly with the president for a Democrat, though. He used to call you Nellie, right? And you didn't appreciate it.
Well, I thought it was not as macho as something like ''Hunter.'' I wanted something more macho, more in line with my outdoorsmanship. He told me Nellie was after Nellie Fox, the baseball player. But I told him it could also get confused with a horse. Or a nervous Nellie. And so last Friday, I said, ''Look, Mr. President, can we come up with a negotiated settlement like 'Benator'?'' I asked him also, for the sake of Karl Rove and the other person in the car, ''How long have we been negotiating?'' And he said, ''Four years.'' I said, ''Well, it's about time we get a negotiated settlement.'' I suspect, while I consider the negotiation over, there'll have to be a sidebar at some point on nicknames. He'll come back with something. He and I have enjoyed the back-and-forth banter, which really extends from the time we were governors together.
You and Howard Dean were also governors at the same time. Do you think he's the right man to lead the Democratic Party?
You know, I didn't have a position on that. He's the chairman. He's not the party. And so he won't set party policy. It's an organizational job.
How do you see the current direction of your party? Is it troubling to you?
I think the party is challenged with getting ahead of the curve and defining itself, because its opposition has defined it. It's defined as though Democrats want to ban the Bible, burn the flag, promote same-sex marriage, rewrite the Pledge of Allegiance, take away everybody's guns and half a dozen other things that are typically to the left of most Americans. And I think that the new leadership, when it comes on, is going to have to reverse that image of the Democratic Party. That's a major challenge.
Would you ever consider becoming a Republican?
Somebody said not long ago that people don't always leave the party; the party leaves the people. So, recognizing that you never know what the future's going to hold, what might happen, you never say never. But am I considering it right now? No.
If you run for re-election in 2006, then, you're absolutely committed to running as a Democrat?
I have every intention, if I run again, to run as a Democrat.
I heard that you played a joke on the Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, before the State of the Union address.
I did. On Senator Reid and several of them in the cloakroom. An aide was handing out copies of the president's speech -- a little bound version. I waited until everyone got one, and then I said: ''Hey, it's a great speech. I read it this afternoon.'' Every neck in there got whiplash, because, you know, why would I have seen it? And then they realized I was pulling their legs. But I do things like that all the time.
You told the president about that?
He laughed. I told him, ''Mr. President, you and I are close, but not that close.''
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