For Candidates, It’s a Question of Mistakes

It’s the question everyone dreads: Name one of the mistakes you’ve made in your life.

On Sunday, the Democratic presidential contenders gathered for a debate in this snow-blown city had to come up with quick responses to that query, and their answers ranged from the candid to the couched.

For Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, his mistake came more than 20 years ago, when he voted for President Reagan’s 1981 tax-cut program after failing to gain support for a Democratic version.

“In retrospect, that wasn’t a good vote,” he said. “But you learn from experience. I’ve got a lot of experience.”

Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina picked a more recent decision: his vote for the “No Child Left Behind” education reform bill pushed by President Bush.

While he supports more accountability for public schools, “the truth is, we put too much faith in a Bush administration administering that policy,” Edwards said.

Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois said her decision to attend the funeral of a son of a Nigerian leader in 1996 clouded her reputation as a defender of human rights.

“The right wing was able to convert that into dancing with dictators,” she said, calling that incident “really devastating” to her political career.

Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts was easier on himself than the other candidates, saying he made a mistake not realizing the importance of defending himself when he came under “withering attack” during his first political campaign.

“I have learned now, and I will never, ever make that mistake again,” Kerry said.

If it’s hard for politicians to admit they err, it’s even harder for their mothers, joked Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who recounted that during the 2000 campaign as Democratic candidate for vice president, his mother was asked what she said to her son when he made a mistake.

“My mom said, ‘Mistake?’ ” Lieberman said.

He has made many, Lieberman confirmed, and one came when, as a state senator, he was “more focused on the rights of criminals than the rights of victims of crime.”

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has been criticized for being prone to verbal miscues, said one of his mistakes occurred early in this presidential campaign, when he wrongly accused Edwards of trying to conceal his position on the war in Iraq.

“I wrote him a letter of apology, and I apologize again today,” Dean said.

But Ohio Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich seemed to top them all.

As mayor of Cleveland more than 25 years ago, “I fired the chief of police live on the 6 o’clock news -- on Good Friday,” he said with a wry grin. “Now, if any of you can top that, I’ll yield to you.”