Biden Says U.S. Must Reverse Era of ‘Decline’

Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden made it plain Saturday that if he seeks the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, his message will not always be pleasant and it will not depend on detailed policy papers.

“On the surface, America is a land content, but we have been blinded by the illusion of security and tranquility, we’ve adjusted to the slow and subtle forces of decline,” Biden said in a speech to the California Democratic Convention. His appearance here was viewed as a major testing of the waters for his possible presidential candidacy.

“We can all see our economy, its productivity, its world position steadily and inexorably slowing,” Biden said. “. . . It is time to get America on the march again, to get America moving again.”

Biden, 44, is one of the Democratic Party’s better orators and he did not disappoint the more than 2,000 Democrats at the state convention. He was interrupted numerous times by applause and received several standing ovations.

Demands on His Time

But, while acknowledging the importance of such a reception from activists in a large state, Biden told reporters that demands on his time--both as a senator and as a parent--were causing him to put off the announcement of a candidacy that many in the party once thought inevitable.

“I have to make up my mind soon or lose the opportunity,” Biden said in a press conference. “My dilemma, quite bluntly, is that I am the new chairman of the (Senate) Judiciary Committee. I honestly don’t know whether I can competently be in Iowa the number of days I have to be, in New Hampshire the number of days, do the fund raising and run the committee and still have a chance to see my children.”

But if he does run, he said in response to a question, he does not plan to churn out the kinds of detailed position papers on such issues as education and trade that have been coming out of the Denver office of former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart, who will announce his presidential candidacy in April.

“I think it is the wrong way,” Biden said of the position papers. “What will happen in this country will not come as a consequence of legislation that’s passed. . . . You’re not going to reinvigorate this country with mere legislative initiative.”

Biden denied that he was implying any criticism of Hart when he said in his speech: “Not only must we reject the voices of the victors of ‘84, but we must also reject the voices of ’88 who have lost faith in the American people and whose pathway to the future is antiseptic and passionless, paved with slick position papers and adorned with fancy titles.”

Point of Conflict

But it appeared to be an allusion not only to the Hart documents but also to Hart’s cool, academic style. By contrast, Biden’s style is often described as passionate. It foretells a lively confrontation between the two should Biden seek the nomination.

Both Hart and Biden have called in recent speeches for a more rigorous, disciplined America after the Reagan presidency, and both have urged ordinary citizens to get more involved in their communities in order to solve such problems as crime and deteriorating schools.

And on Saturday, Biden presented a blunt assessment of the country similar to that often offered by Hart.

Not only is the economy stagnating, Biden said, but “our relationships with the rest of the world are in chaos. . . . The President seems determined to destroy Nicaragua in order to save it.

Influence of Money

“Nowhere is the challenge facing America more evident (than) in our political process. Our electoral system has been overwhelmed by money . . . and the slick (TV) spots and negative attacks have virtually silenced meaningful debate and led to a decline in participation and voting by our citizenry.”

He said that if he does run for the presidency, he will form an exploratory committee in March.

The Democratic activists also heard a rousing speech from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who got 3.2 million votes in the 1984 presidential primaries and may seek the nomination in 1988.

Jackson said that the residents of Howard Beach, N.Y., scene of a recent violent racial clash, and Harlem have much in common because both are victims of Republican economic policies.

Jackson warned the Democrats not to be misled by racial clashes in New York and Georgia, saying:

“It is not black vs. white. The residents of Howard Beach and Forsyth County (Georgia) are not the investors in South Africa, they are not the land speculators building condos amid the homeless, they are not closing plants without notice.”

Jackson urged that Democrats in 1988 to make economic injustice a major issue as they seek the White House.

The 1988 presidential race was very much on the minds of Democratic officials and delegates at the convention, some of whom wonder whether the state’s primary should be held earlier to increase California’s importance in the nominating process.

Sen. Alan Cranston, Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy and Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp all lamented that the selection of presidential candidates is all but over by the time the California primary is held.

Legislative Measure

Assemblyman Jim Costa (D-Fresno) said he will introduce legislation to move California’s presidential primary to the second Tuesday in March.

Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and McCarthy also said they would push for party approval and subsequent legislation to allow independent voters--those registered “declined to state”--to vote in Democratic primaries. They said this would increase voter participation and make independents more likely to vote for Democratic candidates in the November general elections.

The U.S. Supreme Court in December cleared the way for independent voters to cast ballots in party primaries, if a party permits them to.

In California last fall, 8.7% of the registered voters were registered “declined to state,” compared to 50.8% registered as Democrats, 38.3% as Republicans and 2.2% with minor parties.

Move to the Center

If those registered as “declined to state” were to vote in the Democratic primary, it would tend to move that electorate more to the center philosophically.

For example, The Los Angeles Times Poll found in interviews with voters after they had left the voting booths last Nov. 4 that “declined to state” voters sided heavily with Republican Gov. George Deukmejian over Democratic nominee Tom Bradley. By contrast, Democrats voted roughly 2 to 1 for Bradley. These independents also voted overwhelmingly against then-Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, while Democrats voted for her. And in contrast to Democrats, they also voted against Associate Justices Joseph R. Grodin and Cruz Reynoso.

In each of these cases, the independents basically mirrored the California electorate as a whole, in contrast to the leftward tilt of the Democratic voters.

However, in the U.S. Senate contest, independents voted narrowly for Democratic incumbent Cranston, who wound up winning by a thin margin over Republican Rep. Ed Zschau. Democrats voted lopsidedly for Cranston, while Republicans went just as big for Zschau. So it was the independents who provided the margin of Cranston’s victory.

Contributing to this article was Times Sacramento Bureau Chief George Skelton