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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (2578)	7/30/1999 11:25:00 AM
From: Les H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Bush-Bashing Strategy Rejected House Democrats Don't Plan to Take Lead for Gore By Ethan Wallison House Democrats are resisting entreaties that they enter the fray against Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) amid concerns that they might risk alienating crucial crossover voters with attacks on the popular GOP frontrunner. The latest official urging Democrats to turn up the heat is former senior White House political strategist Paul Begala, who addressed a private meeting of the party's message group on Tuesday. Begala told participants that the GOP majority is drawing confidence from Bush's strong lead in the polls over Vice President Al Gore, and that the Democrats must link the governor to what party strategists believe is an unpopular agenda being set by Congressional Republicans. The advice immediately drew a sharp rebuke from several Democratic Members and strategists, who suggested the party can't afford to be labeled as "anti-Bush" with the Democrats' majority hopes hanging in the balance. "In the current state of play, we will need some Bush voters voting for us," said one top leadership aide, who called the notion that House Democrats should attack Bush a "stupid idea." "We don't have a fight right now with George W. Bush. And I don't think it makes sense right now, from a message point of view, to pick one," the Democratic aide said. "We are running against [Majority Leader] Dick Armey [R-Texas] and [Majority Whip] Tom DeLay [R-Texas]. That's who we should be picking a fight with." The give-and-take underscores a growing rift among Democrats about how to deal with Bush as he begins to emerge as the Republican nominee-presumptive. Even as House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) has tried to keep Democrats focused on the goal of winning the majority, many Gore loyalists on Capitol Hill have grown increasingly frustrated in recent months by repeated and frequent attacks on the Vice President by House and Senate Republicans. That frustration has been compounded by what many of these same loyalists believe has been a "free pass" given to Bush in the media that has created an aura of destiny to his campaign for the presidency. Still, with months to go before the presidential primaries begin, there is no apparent consensus on even what alternatives are available -- besides playing defense for the Vice President. "There isn't any effective way we can bring [Bush] into the dialogue," said George Behan, spokesman for Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), one of Gore's chief allies on Capitol Hill. Dicks, along with Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), created an informal whip team to counter criticism of the Vice President on the House floor by the Republican "truth squad" established by Armey. But Behan said organizing against Bush on the floor "isn't going to happen because it's not part of our dialogue." Rep. Al Wynn (D-Md.), who represents the Congressional Black Caucus on Gephardt's leadership council, echoed those views, saying that attacks on Bush would be a "question of timing and degree." Wynn said it would be premature to go after Bush before he has even been given the nomination, but that such attacks would be "part of the formula" in the event he is eventually picked. Wynn added: "We can't begin shaping our campaigns around attacking Bush. Our campaigns have to be around our issues." The divisions over how to proceed reach all the way to the top of the Democratic leadership, where Gephardt's deputy, Assistant to the Minority Leader Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), has consistently pressed colleagues to take a more aggressive tone with the Texas governor. DeLauro did not respond to an inquiry yesterday. But a spokesman said DeLauro, who runs the party's message operation, believes Bush will be the GOP's message-giver next year and should thus be made part of the debate. "What we're trying to do is gear up for a year that includes a presidential election, and discuss how we communicate in that landscape," said the spokesman, Jim Papa. "And that landscape includes George W. Bush." Papa added that DeLauro "has said, and will continue to say, that we need to take a hard look -- a close look -- at George W. Bush -- at his record, at his policies, at what he plans to do." Begala, whom DeLauro invited to address the message group, said Bush is "getting away with murder" by not being forced to discuss the GOP agenda in Congress. In an interview Wednesday, Begala, who stressed that he did not appear as an emissary from the Gore campaign, said Democrats need to be asking where Bush stands on the House GOP's agenda. "Bush is running from the House Republicans like the devil runs from holy water," Begala said. "And in my view the Democrats shouldn't let him." Tony Coelho, Gore's campaign chairman, said in an interview yesterday that Begala has no official role with the campaign. "He has a right to his views," said Coelho. "He's with MSNBC." Coelho refused to discuss the campaign's outlook on bush. Elsewhere, Begala's message found a receptive audience with some Members who attended the meeting. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) suggested House Democrats should pick up some of the rhetorical burden for Gore, saying it is "not right" for President Clinton and the Vice President to be "beating up on Bush all the time." "Bush has not been forced to address the major issues," Crowley said. "We have to focus on the fact that he's got no record."