Gov. Wilder Links Bush to Helms, Racism

Accusing President Bush of allying himself with Sen. Jesse Helms by catering to racial prejudice, Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder charged Wednesday that Bush had shown himself willing to “mortgage the moral authority of the White House.”

“Surely, Americans here and in the Persian Gulf deserve a President who will put as much effort into ensuring that basic human rights are protected here at home as he does on ensuring that the emir of Kuwait returns to his throne,” Wilder said in addressing a forum on the Democratic Party’s future.

“Surely, a President who stands up to the intimidation of (Iraqi dictator) Saddam Hussein must stand up to the intimidation of extremists like Jesse Helms.”

The speech and a letter he sent to Bush Monday making similar charges represent a bold attempt by Wilder, the nation’s first elected black governor, to confront the issue of race.

Many politicians consider racial divisiveness a threat to Wilder’s apparent ambitions for national office and, more broadly, his party’s chances of regaining the presidency in 1992.

Wilder noted the racially charged tactics used by Helms, a three-term Republican incumbent and right-wing champion, in his defeat of Democratic challenger Harvey Gantt, a black, in last week’s midterm election.

A Helms television commercial showed a white man’s hands tearing up a job rejection notice as it accused Gantt of advocating racial quotas for employment. Meanwhile, the state Republican Party sent out a massive mailing warning black voters of criminal prosecution if they violated election laws.

Wilder contended that Bush “laid the groundwork” for Helms’ commercial by claiming that the 1990 civil rights bill, which he vetoed, required racial quotas in employment. Also, he accused the President of being “the leading apologist “ for the GOP mailings, which Wilder described as “blatant ballot intimidation.”

When reporters asked Bush about the mailings, he had made a noncommittal response: “I just don’t know enough about what you’re trying to get me into to get into that.”

Wilder said: “It seems that the President has decided that he needs the senator from North Carolina and his supporters across the nation if he himself is to win reelection in 1992. As a result, he has demonstrated a willingness to mortgage the moral authority of the White House to avoid alienating the senator . . . .”

Some Democrats are wary of raising the issue of race, fearing that doing so will underline their party’s dependence on black support. But Wilder and his chief political adviser, Virginia Democratic Chairman Paul Goldman, apparently have decided to force racial concerns to the surface.

Wilder and Goldman evidently believe that the problems Wilder’s race poses for his political future can be partly offset by his conservative approach to economic policy. He emphasizes that approach as part of the “new mainstream” doctrine he advocates for the Democratic Party.

Both in his speeches and management of his state’s affairs, Wilder has opposed tax increases and resisted proposals for new government programs.