For Some Democrats, War Just Taking Shape

On a frenetic day of campaigning, the leading Democratic presidential candidates on Wednesday appeared twice together before influential party audiences, saw the first labor union endorse a contender for 2004, and began to lay out their visions of postwar Iraq.

As television networks broadcast dramatic pictures of U.S. gains in Baghdad, the Democratic contenders who had supported the war exulted during a morning appearance before labor union leaders. In contrast, three of the war’s leading opponents in the field avoided the issue.

“When I saw Iraqis in the street tearing down statues of [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein and waving American flags, I hope and pray this day, April 9th, will forever be known as V-I day: victory in Iraq,” said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), perhaps the war’s most enthusiastic supporter among the Democratic candidates. Lieberman made his comments in a speech to the AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades department.

Reflecting the continued ambivalence about the war among Democratic activists, Lieberman’s cry of triumph received only the faintest flicker of applause. The crowd of local and regional union officials sat silently a moment later when Lieberman insisted: “We and people throughout the world are going to be safer as a result of the downfall of this evil dictator.”

Likewise, Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) was met with silence when he declared: “I want you to know I not only support the troops ... I support the cause. I believe that our cause is just in Iraq.”

The crowd cheered some mentions of the troops, but overall remained muted as Lieberman, Edwards, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) praised the war effort. Three Democrats who have strongly opposed the war -- former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and the Rev. Al Sharpton -- did not repeat their criticisms in their speeches.

These candidates were joined at the labor meeting by another contender -- former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun. And they gathered again Wednesday night -- along with the ninth announced Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida -- to appear before the Children’s Defense Fund, a liberal advocacy group. It is rare for so many of the candidates to appear together twice in the same day.

At the night forum, Dean, Kucinich, Sharpton, Braun and Graham said they continued to view the war with Iraq as unnecessary or counterproductive.

Graham was among the most emphatic, arguing that the conflict had opened breaches with nations the United States needs to work with against terrorism.

“I believe the war in Iraq has absolutely reduced our ability to effectively carry out the war against terrorism,” he said.

Dean said he believes the war “opens up a new, dangerous preemptive doctrine” in foreign policy. But he added, “I suppose [it’s] a good thing” that Hussein had been removed.

Kerry, while backing the use of force, reiterated his criticism of the way Bush handled the pre-war diplomacy, saying it will leave “the American people carrying a greater financial burden and [facing] an enormous repair job with NATO, the United Nations, the European Community and the rest of the world.”

As at the morning labor event, praise of the war received little applause.

The sedate response to comments about the war at the morning event was even more striking, given that the construction and building trade unions are generally considered among the most hawkish and socially conservative in the AFL-CIO. Department President Edward C. Sullivan praised the troops as he introduced the candidates.

In an interview after the speeches, Richard Mangan, a San Francisco-based official for the United Assn. of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing, Pipefitting and Sprinkler Fitting Industry, said the lack of cheers or boos for mentions of the war reflected the conflicting emotions of many in the crowd: While no one wanted to seem unappreciative of the troops, many remained uncertain that the conflict would improve U.S. security in the long run.

Mangan said he thought Lieberman’s triumphant cry, in particular, was inappropriate. “The known outcome was victory from the start; who thought we’d lose?” he said. “I just didn’t get why he said that at all.”

Immediately after the forum, the 135,000-member International Assn. of Iron Workers became the first union to make an endorsement for 2004 when it tapped Gephardt.

“For Dick Gephardt, the fight for working families is in his bones,” said union president Joseph Hunt, a friend of Gephardt’s since elementary school.

Although Dean didn’t mention the war in his morning remarks, during a luncheon speech to a Democratic foreign policy group he urged a broader role than President Bush has suggested for international organizations in administering postwar Iraq.

Speaking to the Alliance for American Leadership, Dean urged Bush to involve NATO in providing security for Iraq after the conflict ends -- and to find ways to incorporate troops from Muslim countries into the peacekeeping operation. He also argued it would be a mistake to move too quickly toward elections in Iraq, saying, “It will take time to build up the institutions” that support democracy in a country that has never known it.

In the meantime, Dean said, Bush should involve the United Nations in creating an interim Iraqi administration.

In his speech to the union leaders, Edwards struck a contrasting note, arguing that the United States had to move quickly toward Iraqi autonomy.

“As we go forward, it is so important for us to show the world that this was, in fact, about freeing and liberating the Iraqi people, which means they need to have control over running their government just as soon as they possibly can,” Edwards said. “We need to show the world that this was not about oil, which means that, as soon as humanly possible, we need to turn these oil fields back over to the Iraqi people.”

Kerry, while not expressing an opinion on the postwar Iraqi government, previewed what is likely to be a common Democratic argument in 2004 -- insisting that the administration match its commitment to reconstructing Iraq with resources for social needs in America as well.

“As this administration makes plans to build schools in Iraq, roads ... hospitals, we say as correct as it is to finish the job in Iraq, it is time for this administration to begin the job at home,” he said.

All of the candidates except Lieberman focused more on domestic issues than the war during their morning speeches. They denounced Bush’s economic policy, bemoaned the return of the federal budget deficit, pledged to expand access to health care and promised labor law reforms that would make it easier for unions to organize.

Several also promised a harder line on trade, with Kucinich pledging to rescind the North American Free Trade Agreement if elected, Dean insisting that future free-trade agreements include requirements to toughen labor and environmental standards (as unions prefer), and Gephardt receiving loud applause for urging the establishment of an international minimum wage.

Moseley Braun stressed her legislative record of support for labor issues.

The focus at the Children’s Defense Fund session also was on domestic issues, with the Democrats competing to demonstrate their commitment to liberal priorities such as affirmative action, expanded pre- and after-school programs and expanded health care for children.