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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (35674)	8/2/2002 5:14:41 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Kerry scores an early coup By Scot Lehigh Editorial The Boston Globe 8/2/2002 THE DEMOCRATIC Party's troupe of political players was in New York City this week for summer stock performances, striving to show why they deserved consideration for the nation's premier role. There was John Edwards, the charismatic charmer, appropriating classic Clintonian rhetoric about helping those who obey the rules, Joe Lieberman, the understated understudy, impatient for the leading part, and that House favorite, the protean Dick Gephardt, hungrily eyeing a role he first auditioned for a political eon ago. Hillary Clinton, officially uninterested, was energetic enough in her keynote address to raise eyebrows and interest, while a collegial Tom Daschle highlighted the work of the Democratic Senate he leads. True to enigmatic form, Al Gore broke bread nearby but didn't deign to address the Democratic Leadership Council's gathering. But in a week when interested Democrats were carefully tracking the coverage - and when the participants themselves were hopeful of a catchy quote or favorable notice in stories that lumped them together like peas in a political pod - it was John Kerry who ended up on the front page of The New York Times. Kerry did it the unconventional way. While the other potential candidates have been taking aim at President Bush's domestic agenda, the Massachusetts senator is going straight after Bush's conduct of foreign policy. That attention-getting strategy presents both risks and rewards. First the dangers. At a time when Bush's foreign-policy performance still enjoys widespread support, Kerry could appear to be using international affairs for political gain. Was the assault on Tora Bora really the failure he claims? If it turns out that Osama bin Laden perished there after all, as some intelligence sources suggest, that charge could boomerang. Meanwhile, in an era when this nation's interests aren't always consonant with those of our underpowered European allies, there's a risk in putting excessive emphasis on multilateralism, which easily rounds the corner into foreign policy paralysis. And yet there is also the prospect of payoff in Kerry's criticism. Right now the incipient Democratic campaign is mostly about finding solid footing as the field forms. Gore, now widely expected to run again, would clearly start as the front-runner. One recent poll found that 46 percent of Democrats say he remains their choice for 2004, though that's probably more a reflection of name recognition than strong support. (Even some of the former vice president's confidants from 2000 get Al Gore-ophobic at the thought of a third bid for the presidency.) Still, if Gore does run, his candidacy will quickly limit the field and establish this dynamic: Which of the other candidates can emerge as the most credible rival for the nomination? The complex and troubled international circumstances have already put a premium on foreign policy expertise. A candidacy by the internationally experienced Gore would raise the bar still further - even while precluding a run by Lieberman, who is emerging as the Scoop Jackson Democrat of the field. A campaign that has foreign policy as a principal concern plays to the disadvantage both of newcomers like Edwards and of old domestic policy warhorses like Gephardt. In contrast, Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, can speak knowledgeably to those issues. By criticizing Bush's international record openly at a time when most of the other Democrats seem to be reading from the same cautious domestic policy playbook, Kerry has clearly brought those qualities to the attention of an interested Democratic audience. ''I think John Kerry has some unique assets in this early season, and they are being recognized,'' says Alan Solomont, former finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee. ''He is catching on out there.'' (The only other candidate who has done remotely as well in recent weeks is Vermont's Governor Howard Dean, who has started to establish himself as a straight-shooter.) Now, to be sure, this week's gathering was just one early skirmish among would-be candidates. But give credit where it's due. Billed as a ''conversation,'' the DLC confab was really a contest to make oneself distinct. Judged by the coverage, John Kerry won that contest hands down. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. boston.com