7 Seek to Stand Out Without Overplaying Hand

“Each of them has to find a way to break out of the chorus line,” media consultant Robert D. Squier said before the house lights dimmed and the television lights flashed on at the first nationally televised Democratic presidential debate here Wednesday. “But none of them can afford to make himself look foolish.”

As it turned out, the performances of the seven contenders were shaped by the collective dilemma they all faced as they tried to carve out a niche for themselves on the national political landscape.

So, in a sort of political cost-benefit analysis, each of the candidates had to balance the advantage of making a strong impression against the risk of a negative reaction if they seemed to overplay their hand.

Baiting Avoided

For the most part, they stayed away from the perilous course of baiting one another, but, beyond that, they each took a different tack.

For example, it was clear from the answer to the very first question that at least one candidate was willing to strike out boldly.

Former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt, still at single digits in the polls and with his financial ledger already in the red, ticked off the names of some of those whom he would appoint to the Cabinet. Presumably not by accident, the list was nicely balanced, including a Southerner, Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn, who is considering making the race for President himself; a black, Pennsylvania Rep. William H. Gray III, chairman of the House Budget Committee, and former Democratic Party Chairman Robert S. Strauss, who was co-host of the debate, along with conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr.

He did not say what posts he had in mind for them. But, by identifying some of his Cabinet preferences so early in the game, Babbitt was trying to show that he is “gutsy, decisive and prepared” to serve in the nation’s highest office, his consultant, Sergio Bendixen, said.

Gore Cautious

But, in the case of Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr., who also has had a slow fund-raising start, natural caution seemed to override the opportunity to make up ground in a few minutes on national television. “He doesn’t have to do anything more than be himself,” campaign manager Fred Martin said before the debate began.

Gore did permit himself one moment of passion, when host Buckley touched on the field in which the 39-year-old senator has won a reputation for expertise--the arms race. Buckley mentioned a report by what he said was a panel of scientists that had kind words for President Reagan’s controversial Strategic Defense Initiative, or “Star Wars” program.

“That really wasn’t a distinguished panel of scientists,” Gore snapped. “Those were partisan advocates of the ‘Star Wars’ program.” And his rejoinder received a handsome round of applause.

Temperament also seemed to guide Illinois Sen. Paul Simon, another slow starter in the race. Simon did not plan “any tricks,” his campaign manager, Floyd Fithian, said beforehand. But Simon did score points with his response to the prearranged question about which past President’s portrait he would hang in the Cabinet Room. Rather than a President, Simon said, he would hang the portrait of a “steelworker . . . a coal miner . . . a farm family, a working mother. I want to see America on that wall and I want to remind the Cabinet members that they work for those people.”

In sharp contrast with the low-keyed Simon was Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., naturally flamboyant and naturally given to taking chances. “He’ll be the one to try to hit the home run,” one Democratic strategist had predicted earlier Wednesday.

But Biden did not swing from the heels. He did take a jab, though, at Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, whose tough amendment to the House trade bill has led to criticism of him as being protectionist. Biden said he preferred the Senate trade bill to the House legislation, because the Senate bill did not have an amendment whose name, Biden said coyly, he would rather not mention.

Gephardt leads the polls in Iowa and, some believe, has an organizational lead in the South. Maybe that is why Gephardt did not respond to Biden’s sniping, or to other criticism of his proposal for an oil import levy. But his answers were, for the most part, crisp and confident. And, when Buckley seized on a comment he made about the bleakness of economic conditions under Reagan and asked him: “How can it get darker than midnight?” Gephardt quickly responded: “In the Reagan Administration, it can.”

With more than $4 million in his campaign treasury, Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis could afford to be relatively relaxed and look on the evening as a chance to “talk directly to the American people,” as his campaign manager John Sasso said. And he put his time to good use with a vigorous condemnation of Reagan Administration policy in Nicaragua, thus implicitly answering those critics who contend that, as a governor, he is weak on foreign policy. American aid to the contra s, Dukakis charged, violated U.S. treaty obligations.

As for Jesse Jackson, he has a somewhat different problem from those of his rivals. Because of his race, his rhetorical skills and his lead in the polls, he has less trouble setting himself apart than the rest.

Still, Jackson had a point he wanted to make--that he is more of a moderate than most people think--and he set about doing it by talking knowledgeably about Wall Street and the need for investments to make American industry more competitive.