Democrats Need to Modify Liberal Views of Defense, Aspin Warns

Democrats must tailor some of their defense policies to “meet the man-in-the-street test,” and that could mean acknowledging popular support for missile defense systems and backing limited deployments of them, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Wednesday.

Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.), in a breakfast interview session with reporters and editors of The Times, said that many liberal Democrats should take note that the defense views of the party’s certain presidential nominee, Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, are more conservative than theirs.

Dukakis has rejected many Democrats’ calls for the United States to adopt a policy forswearing the first use of tactical nuclear weapons during a conventional conflict in Europe. And unlike some liberal Democrats, he has not opposed a plan for a limited ground-based missile defense system, although he has blasted the Reagan Administration’s broad space-based defense plan.

Takes ‘Contrary Position’

“He has not bought the whole nine yards” of some leading party officials’ defense policies, Aspin said. Dukakis has “taken a contrary position” on a number of issues that other Democrats might be wise in considering in building the party’s constituency, he said.

Aspin said he thought Vice President George Bush’s attempts to portray the Massachusetts governor as a “wild-eyed liberal” could backfire, as Americans recognize that Dukakis’ views are within the political mainstream.

“We’re not dealing with a 30% cut in the defense budget, ‘Come home, America’ Democrat here. You’ve got kind of a mixed bag here of views,” said Aspin. “If (Bush) is going to take on this whole thing, he has got to be careful that there isn’t a backlash against it.”

Aspin said some of Dukakis’ positions on defense issues are still open to negotiation, a process that began Tuesday when several moderate House Democrats met with Dukakis’ national security advisers on Capitol Hill.

Warns Against ‘Mondale-izing’

But the Wisconsin lawmaker warned against “Mondale-izing” Dukakis, referring to the Democrats’ 1984 presidential nominee who was thought to have weakened his popular support by adopting the planks of many special interest groups.

In forming the nation’s defense policy for the future, Aspin said, Congress and the next President must decide whether to modernize the nation’s force of land-based missiles or allow them to grow more vulnerable to a Soviet nuclear strike. A Dukakis Administration might be forced to reconsider his current opposition to both the Midgetman and the MX missile programs, he said.

Aspin also warned against using U.S. military forces more extensively in the war on drugs, saying: “That really detracts from their capabilities as a military force. Law enforcement is just a different mind-set than military activity.”

While many lawmakers agree, Aspin said that political considerations force them to vote for stronger military involvement.

“When an issue is high on the scale, people cannot be seen as voting against something if they’re in a tough race for reelection or something, which can be portrayed in a 30-second spot as being against whatever it is. Against procurement reform, being a big spender, that was the rage for awhile. Now it’s drugs.”