Clark Takes Spotlight in New York Debate
guardian.co.uk
Thursday September 25, 2003 11:19 PM
By RON FOURNIER
AP Political Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Retired Gen. Wesley Clark presented his credentials as a Democrat on Thursday with a biting attack on President Bush, then joined nine presidential rivals in a mix-it-up debate over tax cuts, Medicare and the job-shedding economy.
Bush is ``a man who recklessly cut taxes, who recklessly took us into war in Iraq,'' said the newcomer to the race and his party, confronted with favorable comments he made about the Republican president as recently as 2001.
For the most part, Clark's rivals avoided criticizing him throughout the two-hour debate - but not so one another.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts seemed eager for combat early, criticizing former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean for favoring a repeal of all of Bush's tax cuts to finance health care expansion and other programs. It is ``absolutely wrong'' to propose eliminating all cuts, said Kerry, who favors scaling back tax cuts for the wealthy while maintaining them for lower and middle income Americans.
Dean, ahead of his fellow New Englander in the latest poll in advance of the New Hampshire primary, picked up that challenge quickly.
``This is exactly why the budget is so far out of balance. Washington politicians promising everything,'' he said. ``We cannot win as Democrats'' that way, he chastised Kerry.
``Tell the truth,'' he prodded the Massachusetts senator.
Dean said that among the candidates, only he and Sen. Bob Graham of Florida - also a former governor - had ever balanced budgets. With Graham's campaign in financial trouble, that remark amounted to an appeal to the Floridian's supporters to give his own economic credentials a look.
Still later, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri saw an opening to attack Dean.
He assailed the former governor for having criticized Medicare in the past, and said he had agreed with ``the very plan that Newt Gingrich wanted to pass, which was a $270 billion cut'' in the program that provides health care to seniors.
At the time, Gephardt said, he was the Democratic leader in the House, leading the fight against plans promoted by the former Speaker and champion of the GOP revolution in Congress.
Referring to Dean's self-description as the candidate of the Democratic wing of the Democratic party, Gephardt said, ``I think you're just winging it.''
``That is flat-out false and I'm ashamed you would compare me with Newt Gingrich,'' Dean said in response. ``Nobody up here deserves to be compared to Newt Gingrich. ... We need to remember that the enemy here is George Bush, not each other.''
Kerry returned to the same issue moments later, saying he wanted to come to Gephardt's defense. ``I didn't hear him say he was like Newt Gingrich. I heard him say he stood with Newt Gingrich when we were struggling to hold onto Medicare,'' he said.
The event at Pace University was the latest in a series of debates sponsored by the Democratic Party, and billed in advance as a clash over economic issues.
It was the feistiest of the trio of debates held so far. But it was also leavened with moments of humor, as when Al Sharpton described the field as ``eight career politicians, an officer (pointing to Clark) and a gentleman (pointing to himself).''
As the laughter from the audience died down, former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun added, ``And a lady.''
NBC's Brian Williams, the moderator, served the first question up to Clark, the former general who joined the race just last week.
Challenged about his political pedigree, Clark had a ready reply.
``I am pro-choice, I am pro-affirmative action, I'm pro-environment, pro-health,'' he said. ``That's why I'm proud to be a Democrat.''
In a slap at Bush's foreign policy, the former supreme NATO commander said the United States should ``engage with allies, be a good player in the international community, should use force only as a last resort.''
Moments later, Dean passed up an opportunity to criticize the former general's recent political conversion. ``It's up to the voters in the Democratic Party to determine,'' he said.
Asked about Bush's request for $87 billion in increased funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, only Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Sharpton said flatly they would oppose the funds.
Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut said, ``we have no choice but to finance this program'' to protect 140,000 American troops in Iraq and bring them home.
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina said, ``I would vote for what is necessary to support the troops.''
Gephardt said Congress needs more information from the administration before voting on Bush's request and said it can't be assumed that Republicans would vote for the plan.
In a jab at Bush, he added, ``It's incomprehensible to me that he can go to the UN'' seeking help from other nations and ``come away empty-handed.''
Asked whether they would pledge not to raise taxes, Graham and Lieberman both declined.
Clark, who has only just begun sketching out a domestic agenda, said he was determined to attack the ballooning federal deficit. He said he was prepared to ``put all government programs on the table, including the military programs.''
Asked his own view about Bush's request for $87 billion in funds for Iraq, he sought to turn his relative political inexperience into an asset.
``If I've learned one thing in my nine days of politics, you better be careful with hypothetical questions,'' said the retired general.
The debate came in a campaign intensifying - about four months in advance of voting in Iowa's caucus and New Hampshire's primary.
Inevitably, the field seemed to be sorting itself out along financial lines.
With the next fund-raising reporting period a few days away, campaign officials said Graham is experiencing difficulties that have put his campaign in peril.
On the other hand, Dean - the surprise of the early pre-primary campaign - is expected to shatter party fund-raising records for a single three-month quarter.
Clark's entry into the race posed the largest threat to Dean - the man who has vaulted ahead of the field in fund raising and pre-primary polling in several states.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 |
