How to sink the economy. Increase welfare and cut trade. It's known as "pandering to the Union Bosses."
Democrats Seeking Labor's Backing Call for More Health Benefits and Less Free Trade
By ADAM NAGOURNEY - NEW YORK TIMES
CHICAGO, Aug. 5 - All but one of the Democratic presidential candidate made an extravagant bid for support from organized labor here tonight, calling for expanded health care coverage and some restrictions on free trade policies and denouncing the Bush administration for cutting funds to state governments.
The candidates squabbled a bit over how ambitious health care programs should be and how restricted trade policies should be. But for the most part, they largely endorsed the views held by organized labor as they appeared at a 90-minute forum sponsored by the A.F.L.-C.I.O.
Their appearance came as one of them, Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, struggled to win the support necessary to gain the the organization's endorsement, a crucial aspect of his election strategy. Union leaders said today that Mr. Gephardt's hope of achieving that goal continued to be distant; still, he received a warm ovation as he reminded A.F.L.-C.I.O. leaders of his history of supporting their positions in Congress and roared his denunciation of President Bush.
"This administration has declared war on the middle class in this country; 83,000 jobs have been lost a month," Mr. Gephardt said, adding, "He's got the worst record since Herbert Hoover. He has got to go so we can get jobs back."
The event tonight, before 2,000 people in a hall on the shores of Lake Michigan, was the latest in a blur of debates and forums that the Democratic presidential candidates have attended. This forum was hampered by a bulky format that made it difficult for the candidates to draw many contrasts among them.
On several occasions, one Democrat, Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, appeared frustrated as he challenged his opponents on stage to promise, as he did, to repeal the Nafta deal with Mexico and Canada, which was passed under President Bill Clinton in 1993 and was strongly opposed by union leaders. For the most part, other candidates ignored his challenge.
Still, even this format provided some insights into the candidates and their styles. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, who has recently portrayed himself as the most centrist candidate, was booed when he said he would establish a pilot program to provide poor students with vouchers to attend private schools ? a position strongly opposed by teacher unions.
"I'm going to speak the truth," Mr. Lieberman said. "I'm going say what I think is best for America regardless. This is an experiment. Try it for three to four years, limit it to poor children, don't take any money out of public school budgets."
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts had a second difficult night at a televised Democratic forum: He was struggling with a hoarse, scratchy voice, as had occurred at a debate in South Carolina in May.
Mr. Kerry coughed and cleared his voice repeatedly, as he recited a detailed list of the pay packages given to executives at corporations like Honeywell and Lucent . "My friends, that's trickle-down economics, and I believe every worker in America is tired of being trickled on by George W. Bush," he said.
Mr. Kucinich and Mr. Gephardt were the stars of the evening, and they were the most direct in professing their support for labor's goals. Mr. Gephardt noted that he had voted against Nafta and that others on stage ? among them, Mr. Kerry and Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont ? had supported the trade pact, even as they expressed reservations about that support tonight.
"I appreciate the position that some take here, and I appreciate what they are saying," Mr. Gephardt said. "But I have just one thing to say to you: Check our record. Check out who was there when the fat was on the fire and we had to fight our own president to beat Nafta and China."
The candidates' appeals went beyond the issues: they repeatedly invoked their personal backgrounds as they sought to present themselves as having ties to the labor movement.
Looking out at the huge hall of workers, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina noted that his father was a mill worker, that his brother is a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 553, and his mother is a retired member of the postal workers' union.
"This is personal for me," Mr. Edwards said of his support on labor issues. "The work that you do every day giving voice to and fighting for working people is so important for people like my parents, people like my brother and his family."
Mr. Gephardt also made a personal pitch, noting that his mother ? who died eight weeks ago ? spent her life as a secretary and his father drove a milk truck. If elected, he promised, "every day on every issue, I'm going to try to figure out how to take care of people like my parents."
For his part, Dr. Dean warned about efforts by the administration to restrict the ability of union workers to organize. "What we have to do is let the American people understand that if you want a strong economy, the right to organize is important because you have to make sure middle-class people have enough money in their pockets," he said.
Senator Bob Graham of Florida drew cheers as he denounced Mr. Bush as the "Pinocchio president," saying he misled Americans on the rationale for war in Iraq, and on the effect of tax cuts on the economy.
Carol Moseley Braun, the former Illinois senator, attacked Mr. Bush for favoring the rich. "Greed has driven the economic policy of this administration," she said. "Trickle-down economics does not work, has not worked, is not working."
nytimes.com |
