Clark challenged Kerry to "take responsibility" and "correct" remarks he made in a 1992 speech critical of affirmative action programs for fostering dependence and stoking resentment among displaced whites. "I'm very disturbed that John did not do that" in a debate Thursday night, Clark told his audience at historically black Benedict College here.
In the debate, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw asked Kerry about the speech. "Actually, Tom, that's not right," Kerry answered. "What I described was what the country was saying," Kerry said. As for his own view of the controversial subject: "I've always supported it," Kerry said.
Kerry's speech at Yale University was reported at the time by the Boston Globe. The newspaper quoted the senator praising affirmative action for having "opened doors for women, persons with disabilities and countless minorities" and helping to "create a large and . . . growing black middle class."
At the same time, Kerry said he worried about "a reality of reverse discrimination" that left white workers with "a sense of being singled out to compensate for historical sins which [they] did not commit."
Breezing through a campaign day ripped from the front-runner's handbook -- mostly avoiding unscripted exchanges with reporters, touting endorsements and using surrogates to answer attacks -- Kerry allowed Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), a popular politician here and former chairman of the Black Congressional Caucus, to answer Clark's charges. "I am sorry that General Clark is launching negative attacks," Clyburn said in a statement. "The truth is that John Kerry has stood strong all his life to defend affirmative action."
But Clark backed up his charges with Mary Frances Berry, chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, who recalled reading about the Kerry speech and feeling as if "someone had kicked me in the stomach."
"Kerry was saying exactly the same thing that opponents of affirmative action were saying," Berry told reporters, charging that "he was simply missing in action" in the fight to preserve the programs.
Meanwhile, Dean went after Kerry's record in the Senate, as he had done in Thursday's debate. At a news conference here, he said: "I think Senator Kerry's a fine person, but he hasn't accomplished much . . . 350 bills introduced, I think there were nine passed. Eleven health care bills introduced, none passed."
"I think we need a doer, not a talker, as the nominee of this party," said Dean, who boasted that he had eliminated the problem of children without health insurance in Vermont.
The Kerry campaign dismissed the charges, calling Dean "a master of desperate distortions," and e-mailed a list of "12 legislative accomplishments of John Kerry."
Since Iowa, where a catfight between Dean and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) allowed Kerry to take the high road straight past them to victory, the Democratic contenders had been somewhat chary about attacking one another. So much for that. Kerry was pounded like an anvil Friday.
Republicans also joined in. For the second day in a row, Kerry came under siege at the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee. Bush-Cheney campaign manager Ken Mehlman told a luncheon audience that he salutes Kerry for his service in Vietnam but questions "his judgment in consistently voting to cut defense and intelligence funding critical to our national security."
But there was plenty of good news to boost Kerry's spirits. Having come this far with little official labor support, Kerry was endorsed by the Communications Workers of America, a politically adept union that represents about 700,000 workers at telephone and media companies. He also picked up the backing of the Michigan Education Association, a teachers union that is a player in the delegate-rich Feb. 7 caucuses there.
Party leaders continued to fall in behind him: Rep. Kendrick Meek (Fla.), a rising power in Florida politics, endorsed Kerry, as did former Democratic National Committee chairman Don Fowler of South Carolina, whose son briefly ran Clark's campaign before quitting in a disagreement over strategy.
But the most satisfying news of the day may have been a series of tracking polls that showed Kerry with big leads in Missouri (more than 30 percentage points ahead of John Edwards) and Arizona (more than 20 points ahead of Clark). The Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby polls also showed Kerry in a virtual tie with Edwards in South Carolina -- a state the North Carolina senator says he must win -- and within 8 points of Clark in Oklahoma, where Clark has campaigned extensively.
Edwards and his aides said they were not surprised that polls showed a tight race with Kerry and said they would be satisfied with any margin of victory. "Where I come from, if you win a basketball game 80-79, it counts," Edwards said.
Hewing to his pledge not to attack other Democrats, Edwards said nothing derogatory about Kerry today. Instead, he played to his regional appeal, telling crowds of 150 or 200 people in Florence and Sumter that "I won't forget where I came from."
A number of the candidates started the day at a forum here hosted by syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, whose programs are especially popular among black listeners. African Americans are expected to cast nearly half the votes in the South Carolina primary and should be a significant element of the Missouri electorate.
Edwards, a wealthy trial lawyer, found himself challenged on his ability to relate to people in poverty. "I come from a place where I understand the struggles people have paying their bills," he said. "I've had that in my own life."
Kerry told the same audience that his Vietnam service made him more sensitive to the needs of minorities, who served disproportionately in combat roles there, even while facing discrimination and cramped opportunities.
Sharpton, who has focused on a strong showing in South Carolina, said his opponents have only talked about civil rights; "I put myself on the line."
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), whose campaign is endangered by his fifth-place finish in New Hampshire, tried to light a fire in Delaware. In a speech there, he promised to "turn the tables" on Bush, who he said is "heading up the most fiscally irresponsible administration in history."
Von Drehle reported from Washington. Staff writers John F. Harris, Jonathan Finer, Mike Allen and David S. Broder and political researcher Brian Faler contributed to this report. |
